Next Gen Begins
by UnknownUnseenUnheard
Summary: A fair warning to you all, this story has been scrapped of as a rough draft. I've just started posting the rebooted version. This one is utterly useless. Your still welcome to read through it, if you'd like, but I recommend you move on to the next.
1. Train

A/N; sorry its short, but, as I suck at intros, it was the best my mind could come up with haha. The story should really pick up from here though. As for Orion, I picked a random name of the Black family tree, and then realized it was Sirius' dad. Anyways, if you guys wanna suggest a better name for him, I'm all ears. Oh and he's the son of Nott and Daphne Greengrass, making him Scorpius' cousin.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**Train**

"Al, hurry up!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

I heard laughter at the words from some of the older students as I raced after the train, but I didn't understand why. My mind was still the innocent one of an 11 year old boy as I jumped on board just in time.

I turned and waved frantically at my parents, my little sister glaring at me with a jealous edge. I stiffened a laugh at the sight, but Lily still noticed, and her mouth dropped. Her glare became deadly, meaning in a few months time I was gonna get it. They disappeared in the distance, gone.

I turned and jumped a mile in the air. My cousin, Rose, laughed loudly at me, shaking her head in amusement was standing inches away. Her black school robes where moving slightly with the wind, her red bushy hair swinging lightly as a gust passed us. Her eyes where a silvery blue, the same as her grandpa on her moms side.

"Come on Al, before all the good seats are taken." she told him.

"Yeah.. Let's go." I replied.

She smiled, before turning and leading the way. It was utterly useless to attempt to resist her lead. She had to much of her mother in her for that. So, I simply followed. We entered an empty compartment, sitting down at the end.

"Where's James?" I asked as I sat.

"Probably planing a full new array of pranks to tear up the school with Justin."

I nodded absentmindedly. Justin, Uncle Neville's son. Well, Neville wasn't really our Uncle per say, but he was practically familly anyways. My older brother was obviously an extremely bad influence on him, considering that James had turned our. peaceful cousin into a full blown prankster.

"So, this is it." Rose grinned widely.

I grinned back. "I can't believe where finally going."

"Aren't you scared?" she asked.

"Nah, 'course not." I answered a little to quickly. She simply raised her eyebrows at me, not buying it for a second. "Fine," I surrendered, "James got me all paranoid on the way here..."

"Remind me to hit him later."

I laughed as I shook my head. "What is it with you and wildly abusing others?" I asked.

She narrowed her eyes at me and lifted her hand threateningly. I laughed even harder, and soon, she joined in.

"Idiot." she declared.

"Abuser den'fantes!" I countered.

She growled and I laughed again. Aunt Fluer had nicknamed Rose 'child abuser' since she had an insatiable habit of smacking everyone upside the head playfully. She completly hated it, which is what made it funny in the first place.

"Your impossible." she laughed and shook her head.

"Aww, come on, you know you love me Rose."

"Your familly. I have no choice in the matter."

I laughed again and she ended up joining me. I'd been told countless times that my laughter was extremely contagious, and even Rose, who was usually the serious one, always ended up submitting to it in the end.

Suddenly, the compartment door swung open, and a boy with pale blonde hair stuck his head in. "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

I shrugged and nodded before looking away. Something about the boy was oddly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Malfoy." Rose said to my surprise. She was staring at the boy through narrowed eyes as he sat. I reminded myself that she had inherited her fathers prejudice against the Malfoys, unlike I, who didn't give a damn.

"Um, yeah, so?" the boy asked.

She simply glared at him before looking away.

"Anyways, what house do you think you'll be in?" she asked me, completly ignoring the other boy who stared at her in wonder, his mouth opened in surprise.

"Does it matter?" I asked, the spirit of the short speech my dad had given me still flowing through my veins

"I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw, but I still would like to be in Gryffindor like mum and dad. I just hope I don't end up in Slytherin, dad would never say it to my face but he'd be disappointed." she said rapidly.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the other boy glaring at her.

"Rose, your completly mental, of course you'll be in Gryffindor." I teased.

She laughed as she attempted to swat my arm. The other boy laughed at the two of us, resulting in Rose glaring at him.

"Seriously, what is your problem?" the boy demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." she replied apathetically.

"Doesn't look like nothing." the boy scoffed.

"Rose, leave him alone, he hasn't done anything." I told her. She simply rolled her eyes and looked away, straight through the window at the passing wilderness.

"Sorry for that." I told the boy.

"Its alright I guess. I get that a lot." the boy shrugged as if the fact that people where randomly rude to him was perfectly normal.

"What? Why?" I asked, concerned.

"Because my grandfather was a crazed Dark Wizard and my dad was going that way."

"Your father is an arrogant prick." Rose commented as she turned to fix her deadly glare on the boy again.

"Oi! You don't know him, so you can-"

"Oh, I do." Rose interrupted.

"How?" I asked.

"Mom's Pensive." she replied.

"Oh.." I nodded, remembering the time I tried to sneak a peak into dad's Pensive. I'd been caught less than a minute after I managed to get in, which wasn't much sadly enough.

"And what exactly did you see?" the boy demanded.

"Your dad. Being a complete arse."

I had to laugh at the sight of tiny little innocent looking Rose swearing. She had inherited her fathers talent for colorful words.

Just then, the doors opened again. A boy with dark hair that could of been the first boys twin gazed inside, his deep blue eyes resting on the pale blond boy. "Scorp, I promised Aunt Astoria I'd watch after you, and I've been looking everywhere. Come on, let's go."

"I don't see why I need a damn keeper..." Scorpius muttered.

"Belive me, I don't like it either, but I did promise and I am a man of my word."

"Twelve is hardly considered manhood, Orion." Scorpius laughed.

"Thirteen! Well, in two days anyways. Come on, don't make me drag you." Orion threatened.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Fine.." he muttered as he stood, following his cousin out without a second glance.

"Good, its gone..." Rose muttered.

"Rose, what's wrong with you? He didn't do anything-"

"Yet, Al. Yet. If he's anything like his father, trust me, even you'll hate him."

"Shouldn't we give him a chance, though?"

"Dad told me that Malfoys dad threatened him and your dad the first day they met, on this train, telling them they where gonna die. I don't trust him at all."

I was completly silent at that. The silence stretched ever so lightly before we struck up another conversation, finding random topics to pass the time. Before long, Hogwarts was in sight. We where here, finally here.


	2. The Headless Hunt

A/N; Well, I decided to update this a little earlier than planned. In all honestly, I was mostly stuck on the names. I probably wont update this again untill my other fan fic is finished. Enjoy :)

Pelahnar; Thanks for the advice, I'll try to catch some of those more often.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

**The Headless Hunt  
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I felt the train coming to an abrupt stop as we reached Hogsmead station. I stood, and Rose followed suit.

"Come on!" I said, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice as I raced to the door and stood there, holding it open for her like the little gentleman I was. She rolled her eyes at me as she walked through it.

As soon as we got out of the train, we heard the booming voice of a chuckling half-giant. "Firs' years, this way, firs' years!" Hagrid called.

"Don't fall in the lake, I hear the Giant Squid tries to eat at least one kid a year..." James whispered in my ear, causing me to jump in fright.

"James, leave him alone or so help me..." Rose lifted her wand, a mad gleam in her eyes.

He mock shuddered in response, before turning and going with some friends of his.

"Come on." Rose said, turning without a second look at James. Together, we reached Hagrid, who beamed at us.

"'ello Albus, 'ello Rose." he smiled at us.

"Hey Hagrid." I smiled back at our family friend.

"Come on now, hurry up." he waved us of and began herding the rest of the first years. I chuckled in response.

Rose nudged my shoulder. "Look." she pointed, a smirk dancing on her lips.

A few feet away stood the boy from the train, Scorpius, looking terrified as he eyed Hagrid's giant form wearily. I couldn't hold back the chuckled at the sight. His face was priceless, even more so considering how harmless Hagrid was.

We ended up in one of the little canoes with another boy who's name I didn't know with brown curly hair.

The entire ride, James' words echoed in my skull. And, through some sick ironic twist, my worst fears where confirmed as a giant tentacle rose from the water sharply right in front of our boat. We all jumped at the frozen water hit.

"Down, Jerry, you stop tha right now mister!" Hagrid attempted to reprimand the monster and I silently thought that only Hagrid could name a Giant Squid such an ordinary name as 'Jerry'. The arm sunk back into the lake at Hagrid's command, becoming crystal clear and glass like once more.

Hagrid laughed and we all stared at him incredulously. I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, Scorpius' expression. I held in my own hysteria. It was a hundred time worse than the one he had when he got of the train. "Ah, good ol' Jerry, he likes scarin' the firs' years on occasion. Wouldn hurt a fly." Hagrid chuckled.

I suddenly recalled Uncle Ron's dark words of once having witnessed Hagrid present a dragon with a teddy bear. Then I remembered dad pointing out that Ron wasn't even there. I had doubted it before, but now, I wasn't so sure...

There was a large 'Oooooooh!" and I turned, and my jaw dropped. Before us was a magnificent castle, ripping into the sky, its windows ablaze with light and magic. I silently wondered how we didn't notice it before and wondered if it had anything to do with all the extra enchantments dad said was placed on it after some war that he never wanted to go into detail about.

"Heads down!" Hagrid called as we reached a cliff. We ducked as we passed under it, the massive castle now directly above us. We went through a dark underground tunnel, until at last we reached the end and our boats collided against the underground harbor.

We got out eagerly, Hagrid leading the way, and reached the massive front doors. "Alright, this is it." Hagrid smiled, before knocking quiet briskly on the massive oak doors.

The doors swung open at once. On the other side stood a middle aged man, his deep blue robes flowing down his sides. My first impression was immediately that he looked rather like a turkey, and I wondered silently to myself why he let his goatee grown in such an odd fashion. The yellowish skin clung to his bony face as he stared us down.

"Thank you, Hagrid." he spoke in a clear, respectable tone. I was surprised. I had half expected him to crow like a rooster.

"Yer welcome, Professor Verus." Hagrid replied. Huh. The guys name was apparently as strange as his appearance. He motioned us forwards, and, like tiny solders, we marched of trough the castle.

The place was ominous, the massive stone walls on either side, flaming torches high above. We passed corridor through corridor in silence. It felt like I was in a medieval castle, but I wasn't sure how old Hogwarts was. I'd ask Rose, but that would just give her more motivation to call me her favorite word- idiot.

We walked in awe, across moving staircases and talking paintings. A few of the Muggle-borns gasped at that, pointing.

Finally, Professor Verus turned to face us again as we reached two giant doors. "Well, this is it! Beyond these doors lies a test, a very special and crucial test which will decide which house you shall stay in here at Hogwarts. Each house has its own unique history, and rival-ships.." he paused here, as if the idea of the houses turning on each other would be the best thing to ever come to pass, "They shall be like your family... And the other houses shall be like your enemies, who you must crush in the race for the house cu-"

Suddenly, the doors opened, and one of my favorite people in the world poked his head right through. "Professor Verus? You're taking an awful long time, and the students are getting hungry." Uncle Neville spoke.

A few of the girls sighed dreamily at the sight of him. Fan girls. Evil little fan girls. We all had them. James seemed to be the only one to like the attention, though. I shuddered at what they would do when my secret identity was finally discovered. Damn James and his love of attention, they would probably all expect me to react like him.

"Oh. My mistake, of course, this way students!" Professor Verus declared. Uncle Neville smiled at me and Rose before disappearing back into the hall.

"You know Neville Longbottom?" a girl asked anxiously.

"Ummmm..." was my brilliant response.

"He's our Uncle." Rose rolled her eyes. I groaned. Leave it to Rose to reveal something like that. Then again, anyone with half a brain would no better not to tick her of. It was really simple; mixing the Weasley and Granger genes had managed to produce the most dangerous creature since dragons.

We were saved from questioning as Professor Verus led us into the hall. There, the object of our destruction awaited; the Sorting Hat, out of which any true Gryffindor could pull out Gryffindor's sword. I wondered, silently, if one could pull other founder objects from it. Uncle Bill smiled at us from up at the table, and I waved back.

I heard a few people scream and wondered if this was the end at last. Turning around, ducking for cover, I saw pale figures swooping down, a few laughing, and tossing what looked like... Heads. They where tossing human heads around at each other and us. And each head was cackling like a mad man.

"ENOUGH!" a stern voice roared, and suddenly, there was a bolt of red energy sweeping through the air. The Ghosts squealed before turning full and galloping away on their dead steeds.

Next to me, Rose was clutching her chest in fear with wide eyes. A few feet away, that boy from the train had his hair in a mess. Somehow, this sandy haired kid had lost his pants, and don't ask me how or why, put they were now on his head.

"I got the runt, Headmistress, I got him now!" a greasy old man declared with a beatific expression. As the hall turned to look, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Of course. Only James would go and convince a bunch of ghosts to raid the Great Hall, interrupt the Sorting Ceremony, and terrify us all half to death. I had a feeling he'd done this all especially for me as a welcome home gift.

"JAMES POTTER!" professor McGonagall, our Headmistress, roared. Her face was angrier then I'd ever seen it. She looked ready to expel James right there on the spot.

"Professor, allow me to handle him, please." Uncle Neville to the rescue. Professor McGonagall shifted her glare from one to the other in rapid motion.

"I will deal with you later, young man." McGonagall gave James a cold glare and he shivered. "Neville?" she motioned him forward.

"Of course." Uncle Neville said before quickly departing the staff table and taking James from the old greasy guy. He gave James a stern look before dragging him away.

McGonagall closed her eyes, apparently composing herself before she sat back down and motioned Professor Verus to continue. He pulled out a list, informed us that when he called our name, we where to go and try on the ancient and smelly looking hat over on the stool, and it would decide what house we would be in.

The brim of the hat opened, but if any sound came out, I have no idea for at that moment a loud, ghostly wail was heard in the background. That, and a voice that made me picture a humble looking friar shouting "There's no need to fight!" Professor Verus looked ecstatic at the mention of the world 'fight'. The hat finished the song that I had failed to pay attention to and there was a large applause from the students. I joined, pretending to like it as much as they did.

"Savanna Nest." Professor Verus called. This girl with curly dirty blond hair moved towards the stool nervously. She had a couple of freckles on both her cheeks, her ice blue eyes wide and displaying that she did not like the fact that we all were staring at her. That, of course, made us stare harder.

Professor Verus placed the hat on her head, and we watched as the mouth moved silently. Though I couldn't see her face, I had the impression that blondie was talking back.

"Hmmm... Iffy... Gryffindor!" the hat called. The Gryffindor table cheered. I found myself looking for my brother, expecting him to be the loudest when I realized he wasn't there.

Savanna practically ran of the stool in an attempt to get of the spot light. It failed when she sat down at the Hufflepuff table instead and hundreds laughed. Blushing deep red, she made her way to the Gryffindor table instead.

"Maria Anna Lestrange." Professor Verus called. A few people gasped a dark haired girl with eyes like frozen steel made her way to the stool, glaring at everyone who looked at her with fearsome looking eyes.

She sat down and the hat was placed on her head. It took about three seconds for the brim to open and the hat to shout "Slytherin!"

The girl got of, glared one last time at us, then made her way to sit at the Slytherin table. I got the impression she was used to people judging her on sight, and I wondered why.

The sorting continued from there. Uriel Vallen was the first to join the Ravenclaw table as Fay West was the first to join Hufflepuff. Rose was called and she looked at me nervously before rushing forth. The hat took longer on her than the others before it finally decided on Gryffindor.

"Molly Weasley." Professor Verus called. I watched as our cousin made her way up, and suddenly realized how distant we where. We rarely talked, like the rest of the family. Molly was always so closed, to serious, with a pompous air about her. The hat considered before deciding on Hufflepuff. I raised an eyebrow. A Weasley in Hufflepuff? Then again, Uncle Bill's kids where both in Ravenclaw last time I checked. It seemed the old Gryffindor tradition had broken.

Nico de Altar joined Maria at the Slytherin table and Helen Ruiz joined the Ravenclaws. Stephen Mason joined the Gryffindors after that. I was starting to wonder if I would ever be called when at last, Professor Verus said my name with a slight smirk.

"Potter?" "Potter, did he say Potter?" "Famous new kid!" "Celebrity!" "Wasn't that his brother, the ghost kid?" I cursed James under my breath as I walked in a way that would have my mum scrubbing my mouth clean with soap if she ever discovered.

The hat fell over my eyes and I knew darkness.

_Hmmmm... Difficult, I'll say, unlike your brother... You remind me of your father_,

I couldn't help but feel smug at the last part as the hat continued to mumble.

_Hmmm.. Strong mind, I'd say. Intelligent, great potential.. Ambitious.. A heart of gold... Where to place you, where to place you.. Difficult, very difficult.._

Please, I mentally pleaded, let me be in Gryffindor...

If a hat could snort, I swear this one did.

_Well, father like son, aye? _

I smiled weakly at that. The hat chuckled as the brim opened wide. "GRYFFINDOR!" it roared.

I got up, smiling slightly as I made my way to the Gryffindor table, where Rose gave me a quick hug and Justin grinned at me. My cousin Fred clapped we on the back before he turned and wolf-whistled. A few people glared at me, and I was under the impression that I was being blamed for James' stupidity.

"Scorpius Malfoy!" Professor Verus called. The pale blonde boy made his way to the stool.

"Slytherin the second it touches his head, you mark my words..." Rose muttered darkly. It was starting to get really annoying, and Rose was already annoying as they come normally so this was worse.

Just like me, it took a while to decide. Rose blinked weird as she stared in shock. I tried not to chuckle at her flabbergasted impression, which really was hard.

Finally. The brim of the hat opened wide, and it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" the pale boy looked very smug as he got of the stool, and I noticed his cheeks where flushed, as if he'd been blushing all the while under that hat. I wonder what it told him, though I'd never find out.

Damian Valdez soon joined next to me on the Gryffindor table as Jacob Night joined the Ravenclaws. Morgan Frost followed Jacob, and Vanessa Quill joined the Hufflepuffs. Eric Evans joined us soon after, followed by Kyle Turner. The hat grumbled a little before deciding to toss him in Hufflepuff.

Victoria Dare was the last to rise up. She had long flowing red hair and dangerous looking eye. The hat grumbled in annoyance as she sat, taking a while to decide. Finally. It declared her a Slytherin and Professor Verus walked off with the stool and hat.

McGonagall stood, facing us all. "Well.. It seems the start of another great year. Forgive me if I must ask you not to rile up the ghosts." a few people laughed at that. "We would like to welcome our new Professor of Transfiguration, Professor Vantius Verus!" Professor McGonagall motioned to the turkey dude. A few clapped politely at him.

"On a side note, as usual, access to the Forbidden Forest is, for obvious reasons, forbidden. The caretaker, Mr. Gale, has asked I tell you all that any objects from Weasley Wizard Wheezes are strictly forbidden. Also, the Seventh hall corridor is out of bounds to all students this year."

There was mumbling on the last part. I wondered what was so important about this seventh hall corridor.

"And now.. Let the feast begin!" McGonagall called. She waved her wand and thousands of foods appeared before us. Judging by Rose's expression, this was Weasley heaven.

McGonagall didn't stay to eat with us. Instead, she rounded the staff table, looking livid, and made her way out the hall, no doubt after Uncle Neville and to yell at James. I wondered when mum's howler would come in to chew James out. That would be hilarious.

On that happy note, we ate and chattered before making our way to the dormitories. The second my skull hit the pillow I fell fast asleep, knowing no more.

I had a very strange dream that night. I imagined Professor Verus telling me that I must fight, Scorpius telling me to trust him, and Rose on my other side pleading me to take her hand instead, all the while Professor Verus shouting, "Fight, fight!"

I trashed around a little and knew no more. By morning, I'd forgotten the entire thing.


	3. Framed

A/N; Short chapter! I really just wanted to introduce the Professors in this(even if they aren't all described in detail). I'll try to update quickly after this.

Pelahnar; I didn't even think about the order I just added characters as I thought them up.

Skaterofthebooks; Yes, I plan on finishing all seven books

Protego Totalum; Your welcome :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**Framed**

There was no sign of James the next day, as if he'd disappeared of the surface of the earth. I wouldn't be surprised. Mom in a temper was something to fear..

I received awed stares where ever I walked. I think the only thing that kept the fan girls back was Rose's glare. She knew I hated the attention, so she was doing her best to keep them at bay. Did I ever mention how awesome my cousin is?(not that I could say different, she'd skin me alive)

The classes where.. Well, let's just say learning has never been my strong point. I almost fell asleep in History of Magic while Professor Hawthorn told us how his ancestor massacred a bunch of Muggles because they thought they where witches. He called them the 'witch trials' before I started dozing of.

Professor Verus informed us all of the complexity of Transfiguration, and how we must learn to exert our will on things to force them to change, whatever that means. He continued on about how we must use magic to fight the natural nature of things before I phased out.

Professor Flitwick, who was arguably the oldest teacher at Hogwarts, levitated half the desks with a flick of his wand then refused to tell us how he did it.

Professor Bane, the Potions Master, was personally my least favorite. He sneered at us all, told us we where a lot of idiots that would never learn, then began his lesson with a third year potion(according to Rose) as a pretest.

But the class I really wanted to go to was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Apparently, Uncle Bill had taken the position after the last one was left unfit to continue teaching after being cursed by McGonagall. I asked how that happened, but everyone refused to tell me.

The bell rang, and we rushed to the Great Hall. Well, tried to rush. We ended up getting lost somewhere along the way on a moving staircase.

"Damn it!" Rose huffed.

"Lost?" a voice called. We turned as Nearly-Headless Nick floated in our direction. Rose's eyes widened. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was scared.

"No!" she said a little too quickly.

"Yes." I contradicted. She glared at me. "We're trying to find the Great Hall."

"I was just going down there myself." he replied.

"Great, can you take us?" I asked.

"Certainly."

"Thanks."

With that, he led us forward. Rose was trying to hide a grimace as she followed, trying to keep on her big girl face. She was afraid of ghosts? Huh, did not see that one coming from a girl that could give a banshee a run for its money.

We arrived, I thanked Nick, and we walked in, Rose almost running as she walked swiftly.

"Hey!" I called as I caught up to her. She turned to me and gave me a fierce glare.

"Never.. Do that.. Again!" she snared.

"Your afraid of ghosts?" I asked, resisting the urge to laugh. It just sounded ridiculous.

"Tell anyone, and I will hurt you." she promised, and I believed her. Even James knew better than to mess with her- most of the time.

We ate in silence after that. I knew my cousin needed a little time to cool of. She wasn't used to being afraid of anything, so I guess Nearly-Headless Nick must have terrified her.

With a start, I realized that if Nick scared her.. James' prank might have left her scared. That made me mad. Really mad. My brother had just officially provoked my wrath.

Just then, said idiot appeared, looking flustered as he sat across from us. "Listen-" he began.

"Go away, James!" Rose snapped. I was really sad I didn't know any curses at the moment.

"Guys, just hear me out, please?" James pleaded.

I picked up my fork, twirling it between my fingers. "If you don't go.." I began casually, before stabbing it quickly into the table, making both Rose and James jump. "I just might chuck this at your abnormally large head."

James just stared at the fork, wide eyed, before looking up at me. "Since when are you so mental?" he demanded.

I just raised eyebrow to that, picked up the fork and held it as if to throw it. "Get out of my sight. Now." I commanded.

"Sheesh, 11 year olds these days.." he muttered to himself as he stood and left.

"Thank you." Rose said, a little grudgingly. She always hated when she needed any type of help, so I assumed that was the reason for the bitter tone.

I smiled at her. "Any time, cus. Pass me the salad over there please."

She rolled her eyes as she passed me the salad. I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up.

Standing behind us, silent as ever, was Uncle Neville, one hand on my shoulder, the other on Rose's. "How's the first day been so far?" he asked as he sat down in between us. I have a heavy suspicion he sat next to her because she, unlike me, could keep away fan girls with a single look.

"Great." I answered.

"Boring." Rose amended.

"I see.. Well, what I really wanted to talk to you guys about is James..." Uncle Neville began.

"You can't be serious! We just got rid of the prat!" Rose huffed, but Uncle Neville lifted his hand to silence her.

"Listen, then yell your heads of."

"Fine." we both grumbled, and Uncle Neville grinned.

"Look, James told me he didn't-"

"Of course he told you he didn't, don't tell me you believe him." I interrupted. He raised his eyebrows at me in response.

"Let me finish." he told me.

"Sorry." I mumbled, turning red.

"As I was saying, James says it wasn't him. Normally, I wouldn't believe him but... Well, next time he comes around, let him explain. I still have my suspicions, and I want you two to find out."

With that. Uncle Neville stood and left without a second word.

"I don't care what he says, me within a five mile radius of James will tear the school down." Rose told me.

"Well.. I don't know..."

"When do you ever?" she teased, and I mock glared in response as she laughed.

The bell rang, that evil bell, signaling us to go to our next class, the only one I was really anxious to get to; Defense.

Uncle Bill was just standing there, his back turned to us, writing on a board. The class filed in, and when he turned, a few people screamed. He snorted. "Friendly reception." his heavily scarred face turned into a gruesome looking grin.

"Sir.. Um, are you alright?" Damian Valdez asked, sounding genuinely concerned instead of disgusted.

"He's hideous!" Victoria Dare snorted to one of her friends. I glared at her for that.

"Perfectly fine, just a few old war scars. Mind you, transformed or not, a werewolf can, not necessarily is, but can be deadly." Uncle Bill informed us as if he hadn't heard Victoria at all.

Of course, half the class gasped. "Your a werewolf!" Vanessa Quill shouted, moving her desk away.

"Of course he isn't, he said a werewolf is dangerous transformed or not." Jacob Night pointed out, rolling his eyes

"Freak school.." Kyle Turner muttered. I glared at the Hufflepuff.

"Werewolf... Awesome!" Damian exclaimed, causing a few people to eye him weirdly.

"Class, settle down, and no, I am not a werewolf. My name is Professor William Weasley, I have been teaching here for the past 18 years, I am a former curse breaker for Gringotts Bank and these scars," he pointed to the gashes running down his face. "Where the after effect of a run in with a werewolf I had a few years back, while he was in human form. The only lasting side effect is a craving for rare meat, but that's beside the point. We are here to learn, not hear my life's story. Names?"

With that, we each gave our names. Uncle Bill nodded as if he actually remembered, but I knew him well enough to know he'd probably forgotten them each. One after the other.

Unfortunately, the only thing we did was take out our textbooks and write down some words. Uncle Bill wanted us to take notes on dangerous creatures and how to take them down before delving into an actual lesson.

Dissapointed, we made our way back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Did you see his scars? They shouldn't let someone like that teach here!" Eric Evans told us all. Rose flushed red in rage.

"You know what!" I snapped before she could open her mouth. "You leave him alone! So he looks different, so what! There is nothing wrong with my uncle, and I swear if you say another word about him-"

"Werewolf dudes your uncle? Cool!" Damian interrupted with enthusiasm.

"Damian." Stephen said.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"He's your un- I um I'm sorry." Eric mumbled.

Rose drew her wand and jabbed it under his chin.

"Rose, calm down!" Savanna cried.

"Insult my family Uncle again..." Rose began.

"What have we here?" a voice called. Rose nearly dropped her wand as we turned, Professor Verus making his way towards us.

"She's threatening me!" Eric exclaimed, pointing at Rose. Gryffindor my ass.

"Really? Excellent!" Professor Verus surprised us all and we stared at him weirdly. "Only through experience do we adapt! Though, as much as I dislike it, my contract does bind me to tell you not to do that again, Ms. Weasley. Come now, to your dormitories!" he called us of.

Rose huffed and turned without a word. I glared one last time at Eric, and then raced after her.

I caught up to her in the common room. "Hey, you ok- why are you crying?"

She looked to me with red eyes. "I can't stand it, the way they talk about Uncle Bill.. Its just so..." she trailed of. Staring at the floor before looking up with a glare. "Tell no one I cried." she ordered.

"Rose?" a voice called. We turned as James came in, looking at her with concern.

"Go away!" she snapped.

"What happened?" he demanded as he rushed forward. Rose stood.

"Nothing!" she hissed.

"Who. Hurt. You." he demanded, his eyes loosing their usual humor, the way they get whenever he goes into over protective big brother mode.

I gave one look at Rose before turning to him and telling him what happened. By the time I was done, well, let's just say those kids where lucky it was me and Rose there, not James.

"That.. Those... Rose, listen to me, not everyone is like us, as accepting as us.. So, what I'm saying is, let them grow out of it. But if they keep it up.. Ugh!" he hissed, red in the face.

Rose just nodded. It seemed, for once, they where on the same team.

"What did you want to tell us at lunch?" I asked, suddenly remembering.

Rose gave me a weird look while James scrambled his brains(as if he had any). "Oh! Yeah! Um, I didn't set the ghosts on you guys!"

We just stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Yes you did." Rose said bluntly.

"No, I didn't."

We continued to stare.

"Look, I wouldn't have done that.. I'd like to say it was me, cause it was halarious, but I've been framed! Besides, if I really pulled of that prank, do you think i'd get caught? That, and as annoying as I am, do you really think I'd try and mess up your guy's sorting ceremony?"

Silence.

"That was.. Smart." Rose said in amazement.

"Yeah, yea- OI!" he huffed.

Okay. So, my brother might be innocent. Might. I'd seen his act hundreds of times, and he had it so near perfect it was hard to tell between the truth and the lie. With that in mind, I lay down, letting myself go to sleep, thinking; who would frame James and why? That, or you're being manipulated by your big brother as usual, n angry voice spoke in my head. Shut up, I snared, before I realized I was talking to myself. I groaned, rolled over, and let sleep take me.


	4. Chimera

A/N; Next chapter! I will be updating this in synch with my reading the books fic, one chapter for this and one chapter for that. Oh, and the fat lady being on the sixth floor instead of the seventh isn't an error, in case you notice the little change. There's a reason she was moved from one place to the other. Also, if anyone would like to submit an OC to the story for me to put in, you are welcome to!(because it means less work for me haha) Anyways, enjoy.

Protego Totalum; thanks. I noticed that but it refused to change when I tried to fix it for some reason, but i got it fixed now since it miraculously decided to cooperate.

Thanks for all the reviews and adds, each is appreciated!

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

**Chimera**

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, HOW DARE YOU! THIS TIME YOU HAVE GONE TO FAR! SETTING THE HEADLESS HUNT LOOSE DURING YOUR BROTHERS SORTING CEREMONY? I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! DO YOU HAVE NO SORT OF RESPECT WHAT SO EVER, YOUNG MAN? IF YOU PUT ONE MORE ITTY BITY TOE OUT OF LINE, I PROMISE YOU I WILL SHOW UP AT SCHOOL AND DRAG YOU AWAY BY THE EAR IN FRONT OF ALL OF YOUR LITTLE FRIENDS! Oh, and Albus, congratulations on making Gryffindor, me and your father couldn't be more proud."

With that, the red letter exploded in fiery flames, the ashes falling all over James and onto his morning breakfast. His expression was priceless. We all burst out laughing at this, though a few people glared at him at the reminder of his little prank.

"Cool, fire!" Katherine Finnigan, a third year, exclaimed in excitement. I looked at her a little weirdly but all her friends burst out laughing with amused expressions.

"Well..." James said slowly. "That was freaking awesome!" he cheered.

I rolled my eyes at said idiot, but next to me, Rose narrowed her eyes. "I still don't buy this 'I've been framed bs.'"

With the words, I was filled with anger again. James had scared my cousin. He'd terrified her with her, to my knowledge, only fear. The thought made me angry all over again.

Out of seemingly no where, Eric Evans popped out of the blue. We glared.

"Look, I wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday-"

"Save it for someone who believes you." Rose snapped. I narrowed my eyes at that. Rose hated being deceived so much, that she studied out of a book that shows tell tell signs that someones lying so she could tell when someone was trying to trick her. Unfortunately, James had also studied said book for a different purpose- so no one would be able to tell when he was lying. If she thought Eric was trying to trick us.. Well, I'm inclined to believe her.

"I'm being honest-"

"No you're not, your eye is twitching, the vein in your neck pulsed ever so slightly at a quickened pace, your voice changed from yesterday as if your trying to force me to believe your words." Rose countered.

He just stared, jaw dropped. I laughed. "Never try to lie to her." I informed him.

Eric grumbled something about to smart for her own good as he walked away.

The days from there passed on in a slow motion. We learned, I fell asleep in classes, Rose threatened to curse me when the teachers back was turned during class if I let my eyes close for more than a second- the Neville cornered us in Herbology one morning to ask if wed found anything out on James.

"Uh, no. Sorry, but where are we suppose to look?" I asked.

"Hmm.. Dominique." he answered.

"Why her?" Rose asked. Not that she had a problem with our Ravenclaw cousin, but wondering what part she had in this. Okay, let me ammend that statement. Rose didn't have a problem with our cousin per say, she just didn't like her all to much.

"Just a question, but why do you care so much?" I asked.

"Because, James is on the edge of expulsion, and if someone else might be responsible, I want them to pay." he said. Realizing his mistake, he froze. "Umm, not pay per say but take responsibility for their actio-"

"Of course, Uncle Neville." Rose laughed as she rolled her eyes. He narrowed his eyes in response, then pouted as we both burst out laughing.

"Fine, we'll ask Dominique." I promised.

"Good.. Oh, and one more thing. The new teacher, Professor Verus?" he began casually.

"What about him?" Rose asked.

"Don't trust him." he advised us in a serious tone. Me and Rose shared a confused look before turning back to him.

"Why?" we asked in unison.

"I shouldn't speak ill of my colleagues but.. Just, be careful around him and you should be fine." Uncle Neville replied.

"Professor, umm, help!" Savanna cried from her work station, the plant she had been working on spreading all over her work space, having broken free from the confident of the pot it had been planted in.

"Coming!" Uncle Neville yelled, then gave us one last fleeting look. "Do not trust that man." with that, he departed, leaving us bewildered.

On our way back to the castle, we kept discussing over Verus, and why in the world Uncle Neville might not like him. It seemed to out of character for their normally amiable snake-killing uncle. All in all, it made no sense at all.

We where making our way up the stairs when, yet again, they moved on us. Rose chose to use some of her fathers favorite swear words whenever he happened to stub his toe on something to describe the stair case.

"Better not let Aunt Hermione hear you." I laughed.

"Shut up!" she snapped, turning red. Of course, this only made me laugh harder and caused her to roll her eyes.

The stairs finally came to a stop and we continued down a corridor I'd never seen. "Where are we?" I asked.

"How am I suppose to know?" Rose countered.

"You already know everything else." I pointed out, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Oh, Al.. What am I gonna do with you.." she sighed dramatically.

"Ah, shut it." I told her, at which she laughed.

The corridor was dark. The suits of armor seemed to be almost glaring at us as we walked by. It made me feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. The shadows seemed to leap up at us for every corner. Unlike the rest of the castle, there where no paintings. We passed along the only thing that seemed to be hanging on the walls at all, a giant tapestry. In the center was a man, surrounded by trolls wearing ballerina outfits, hitting him with their clubs.

I laughed. "Her, Rose, look!" I pointed. She didn't reply. "Rose?" I turned to look at her, and her face pale as she stared forward, transfixed.

"Run." she said quickly.

"Wha-?"

"Shut up Al!" she hissed in a whisper, her eyes still fixed ahead. I followed her gaze and almost toppled over. A thick, dragon like tail coiled around the body of a sleeping grey goat, except it wasn't a goat- the head was that of a sleeping lion, with his eyes lazily closed, snoring ever so lightly in its sleep, fire springing from its nostrils when it gave a small sneeze. A chimera. A chimera was sitting in the middle of the hall. What the hell.

I stumbled as I moved away slowly, and the two eyes opened quickly, with red, demonic irises lined with black staring blankly at the floor as the creature lifted its head at us, becoming aware that two tasty students had just happened to walk into his dominion. It snared, opening its great maw, causing my instincts to flare.

I turned to Rose and tackled her to the ground as fire shot past us. The chimera growled at us as it advanced. I turned, lifting my wand.

"Albus, what the hell are you-"

"_Umbarus!_" darkness sprung from my wand, absorbing the light- a trick I'd seen James use to cover up his escapes from a prank he's just pulled. "Come on!" I pulled Rose to her feet and we ran as fast as our feet could carry us, the chimera snaring as flame ripped through the magical shadows I'd created, the beast advancing as it finally spotted its lunch. I turned to look one last time as the creature howled, turned to see what was keeping it from charging at us. A chain wrapped around its legs, strong powerful heavy chains that bound him, a few feet from the tapestry.

We ran as fast as our legs could carry us, panting as we reached the Fat Lady on the sixth floor. "Where have you been?" she demanded as she examined our tired figures.

"Just let us in, Dragons Tail!" I shouted the password, then shuddered. Why did the password have to remind me of a fire breathing, lion headed goat?

She sighed before swinging open. Tired, we marched back in, up the evil stairs to our common room(why did there have to be stairs here?), before collapsing on the sofa.

"You two look beat." Stephen commented at the sight of us.

"Well, we just-" I began, about to reveal everything like the honest prat I am.

"Ran here all the way from the other side of the castle, to see who's faster." Rose interrupted.

"Oh." Stephen said, suspicious, but otherwise let the matter drop.

Chimera. There was a chimera in the freaking school, guarding an old weird looking tapestry. This was just.. Well, it was just weird. Okay, weird is an understatement. It was annoying. Very annoying. I had nearly been burned to death. I had nearly become a chew toy for an over grown pet.

Rose stood, "Let's go." she said.

"Uh, where?" I asked.

"Uncle Neville wanted us to talk to Dominique, lets talk to Dominique." she said simply. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion but shrugged and nodded as I stood.

As soon as we where out, she pulled me into an empty classroom, and locked the door. We stared at each other, at a loss at where to begin.

"There's a chimera in the school." I said bluntly.

"Guarding the Seventh floor corridor." Rose added.

"And it tried to burn us alive." I pointed out the obvious detail

"And use us as giant chew toys.." Rose stated, at which we both shuddered, not liking that idea.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know.. But, I.."she fixed her eyes on the ground, deep in thought.

"Rose?" I asked after a few seconds. She looked up.

"I.. I have a feeling its all linked."

"What's all linked?"

"Verus, the chimera, and... And James' possible framer." she answered.

"You think Verus framed my brother?" I asked skeptically.

"No, I just.. That thing is guarding something, Uncle Neville told us not to trust Verus and to find out if James was framed or not. I have a feeling its all connected, but there's a missing piece."

"You can say that again.." I mumbled in annoyance. "So, lets go."

"Go?" she asked, confused.

"Uncle Neville wanted us to talk to Dom, maybe she knows something." I replied.

"Well, I don't know.."

"You said its all linked." I countered.

"Fine..." she grumbled, opening the door. Together, with out minds racing, we walked straight out.

We found our cousin in the Courtyard, chatting with a few friends, her strawberry blonde hair shimmering in the sunlight.

"Dom!" Rose called out.

Dominique turned. She smiled. "Hey!"

"Can you come here real quick, its important!" I called out. She looked slightly confused, but nodded. She turned to say one last thing to her friend before she stood and followed us into the hall, away from the eyes and ears of her friends.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Uncle Neville thinks James was framed." I told her bluntly, throwing all caution out the window(as I usually do).

"Yeah, I don't buy it.." she replied.

"Neither do we, but, he wanted us to try and find out. do you know anyone that might want to, ou know, get him in trouble?" I asked.

"Hmm.." she frowned, deep in thought.

"Well?" Rose asked, anxious to get the meeting done with. She had never really liked Dom, and believe me, the reason's stupid. Dom was one of the extremely few people that could outsmart Rose. It drove her up the wall whenever anyone managed it.

"Got it!" she snapped her fingers. "Theodore Orion Nott."

"Who?" we both asked, bewildered.

"Hmm.. Remember that Malfoy boy that got sorted in you year?" she asked.

"Yes." we answered.

"His cousin. He and James started a rival ship last year. If any one wants James expelled, its him." Dom answered. My mind thought back to that pale boy with jet black hair that looked like he could be Scorpius' twin, the pieces clicking.

"Thanks." Rose said grudgingly.

"Any time." Dom smiled, then turned to leave.

"Wait!" I called. Both she and Rose gave me a confused look. "Do you know anything about Professor Verus? Anything, you know, odd?"

She paled.

"Well.. Let's just say, he has a very questionable past." she answered.

"What does that mean?" Rose demanded, her curiosity spiked.

"He.. Well, its not my place to tell. I've seen how people judge dad, and I wont say anything about Verus until I'm sure. Just... Well, careful around him." she advised, turning without another word and leaving the pair of us deep in thought.


	5. Duel

A/N; Next chapter! I'm really getting into this story now, so I probably will update it more constantly. Again, all OC recommendations are appreciated and I will use them!

Pelahnar; Who says that was all that was suppose to be in between them? What if someone wanted them to find said chimera for some reason? But I'm thinking more of a wall disappearing then the stairs moving around, since the stairs always move and anyone could end up there. Huh. I half noticed the me and rose thing while writing this, even though I didn't remember you telling me thing haha. Probably some subconscious thing, whatever.

Protego Totalum; I added your OC to this chapter! Sorry if i didn't use her as you might have wanted(as I'm not sure how you wanted me to us her), but I inserted her in. Part of Verus' past is in this chapter, but its not even the half of it. I'm saving the real reason they don't trust him for later.

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

**Duel**

Me and Rose(or Rose and I, as she's snap at me if she could hear my thoughts) made out way to the Defense classroom. There was a freaking chimera in the school. We weren't sure if they knew, and they probably did, but we had to tell someone, didn't we?

We stopped right outside the door, ready to knock, when we heard voices coming through from the other side.

"Maybe we should-" Rose began.

"Shh.." I told her, pulling out an Extendable Ear and handing her one.

"Al, maybe we shouldn't eavesdrop." Rose said.

I rolled my eyes at her as I fed the string in my ear and listened.

"Verus has taken a gamble, a very dangerous gamble doing this.." Uncle Bill? No, the voice was different, it was.. Uncle Neville?

"It might be the only chance we get." Uncle Bill replied. I think.

"But what if he's wrong? A new war will begin if the chance he took back fires, and it will start here, at Hogwarts." Uncle Neville replied.

I gasped, eyes wide. Rose looked at me weirdly and I pointed to the Extendable Ear in her hand. She sighed and slipped it into place.

"Maybe, but still.. Its the only chance we have left." Uncle Bill said.

"I don't trust him, at all. It could be a trap, instead of a gamble. He might be planning to take down the castle as we speak, plotting." Uncle Neville said darkly.

Rose and I(yeah yeah, she wouldn't yell at me now if she heard that thought) stared at each other, wide eyed.

"I don't trust him to much either, but people deserve second chances, don't they?" Uncle Bill countered.

"I say they should have let him rot in Nurmengard! If anyone deserves it, he does!" Uncle Neville snapped.

Nurmengard. Why did that sound familiar?

"I think we should discuss this later..." Uncle Bill said.

"No, we need to talk about it and take action now, before its to late!" Uncle Neville refused to back down.

"No, its not that. Look. Two of my brothers Extendable Ears." Uncle Bill said.

We looked at each other once before ripping out the strings and running as fast as our feet could carry us, away from the Defense Room as the door was swung open. I don't think they saw us, but we still kept running. We passed Peeves, who happened to be playing tennis in one of the halls. He laughed at us and tossed tennis balls in our direction before swinging the racket over our heads, laughing like a maniac, and disappearing.

"That-was-close." Rose panted.

"What's Nurmengard?" I asked, sure I'd heard the name somewhere. "And what does it mean?"

"It means.." she panted as she looked up at me. "It means Professor Verus was a follower of Gellert Grindelwald."

"Who?"

"Evil dark wizard, he was real strong seventy some years ago." Rose replied.

"Professor Verus can't be that old?" I said, confused.

"Actually, he can. The magic in our blood makes us age slower once we hit adulthood. If he was imprisoned at Nurmengard.. Well, that's where they sent all of Grindelwald's old followers." Rose said.

"So your saying that our Transfiguration teacher.."

"Is an ex-dark wizard."

Okay, shocker. McGonagall had hired an ex dark wizard who was probably over ninety years old, give or take a few. Apparently, he'd also taken a very dangerous gamble that could either make or break the school. I had a feeling whatever gamble he took was linked to the chimera, was linked to the seventh hall corridor where we'd nearly been lit aflame. But what, I didn't know?

I was weary of Professor Verus the next day. He had us transfiguring needles, trying to turn them into matches. We got points for how well out match burned, and lost points if it was still too metallic to light aflame.

Rose, who was usually the top of the class, was struggling. every time Professor Verus passed her, she became stiff, as if expecting him to run her through if she failed.

"Ms. Nott has done it!" Professor Verus exclaimed. We turned as a girl with slightly wavy dark brown hair that went a single one inch past her shoulders and bangs that swoop to her side, with dark blue eyes with flecks of dark brown embedded within them lifted up a perfect match to the class. I had to make a conscious effort to keep myself from staring. Professor Verus tapped it with the end of his wand and it became a lit with bright purple flames. Beside me, Rose glared. She hated being out done in anything.

"Good one Tabitha!" Scorpius Malfoy clapped her on the back.

"That's Scorpius." I muttered to Rose.

"So?" she asked.

"The guy who might have framed James is his cousin."

"You just want to get closer to that girl." she teased.

My cheeks went red. "No, Uncle Neville wanted us to find out if James was framed."

"U huh, right." she said smugly. Stupid Rose and that stupid how to tell if someone isn't being entirely honest book.

"I'm serious!" I informed her.

She just rolled her eyes in response. I narrowed my eyes, causing her to laugh and shake her head in amusement.

"What if Uncle Neville just wanted us to find out if James was framed or not to keep us out of trouble?" she mused as we entered the Charms classroom.

"I wouldn't put it past him, but I have a feeling its not that cynical." I replied.

Professor Flitwick's lesson wasn't long. He thought us to levitate objects. In the end, it became a competition between me and Scorpius to see who could hold it the longest while Rose stood beside me, doing her best not to get jealous at being out done a second time in the same day.

Out of nowhere, I slipped on the ground as if the carpet had been taking out from under my feet and fell, Damian and Stephen catching me before my head managed to hit the floor.

"I win, Potter." Scorpius said smugly as my feather fell to the floor.

"Excellent Charm work, 10 points to Slytherin Mr. Malfoy." Professor Flitwick squeaked. He was a small teacher, smaller than anyone in the room even. I wasn't sure, but I had a nagging suspicion he wasn't fully human.

"I slipped. Rematch." I complained.

"Mr. Malfoy won fairly. I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but I can't just bend the rules." Professor Flitwick informed me. I cursed under my breath in annoyance.

"Look.." Rose told me, and pointed towards Tabitha, who was trying to hold in a giggle, her wand out.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"She cast a slipping charm on the floor, you idiot." Rose told me. My jaw dropped. Tabitha met my gaze and burst out laughing, earning my glare.

"She made me slip."

"Of course she did, genius." Rose rolled her eyes. I turned to her.

"Okay, whatever, doesn't matter." I said.

"No use lying to me, when will you ever learn?" she asked smugly.

"Anyways, we have to find this 'Theodore Orion Nott' kid. And find out if he knows anything."

"Do you really think he'll tell us anything?"

"No.." I began, a smirk coming onto my lips as an idea popped into my head.

"What?" she asked, noticing the mischievous glint I get every time I come up with an idea.

"Follow my lead.." I told her, turning and moving towards Malfoy, who was chatting with his other Slytherin friends. Was it just me, or did he seem out of character? They turned as they saw us approach.

"You cast a slipping charm on the floor." I accused Tabitha.

"Me? Never!" she scoffed in an unconvincing fashion.

"What? Tabitha.." Scorpius rounded on her.

"I didn't." she denied, while trying to contain a giggle. I didn't even need Rose to tell me she was being dishonest. The girl was a terrible liar when confronted straight up.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at her, then he turned to me. "So sorry, I didn't-"

"He's not sorry." Rose interrupted.

"Yes, I am." Scorpius snapped in annoyance.

"Don't try lying to her, she can spot a liar a mile away." I told Scorpius. "But that's besides the point, we wanted to talk to you about something else."

"What?" he asked, in my opinion, far to eager to change the subject.

"My brothers little prank during the Sorting Ceremony." I said.

"I thought it was awesome!" Nico de Altar exclaimed. Rose and I exchanged a look, thinking the same thing; this dude would get along well with Damian.

"Anyways, the staff think he was framed." I continued.

"And you're telling me this why?" Scorpius asked.

"They think it was your cousin." Rose said bluntly.

"What! My brother would never!" Tabitha snapped.

"That's what we heard, not what we think." I told her.

"She's not being entirely honest, she'd not sure." Rose whispered in my ear.

"You take it from here." I whispered back. She nodded.

"Your not to sure about that, are you?" Rose questioned.

"Of course we are!" Scorpius and Tabitha both snapped in unison, though Tabitha's was a little slower. Rose's eyes narrowed.

"No, your not, you hesitated for just a second to answer." Rose pointed out.

Tabitha turned red.

"Stop playing mind game with my cousin!" Scorpius snared.

"Shut it, Malfoy!" Rose snapped.

"Hey, calm down guys." Nico stepped in between them as they looked ready to pounce on one another.

"Your cousins guilty. Trust me, we'll find out if he is. We're fair enough to warn you. Come on Rose." I told her.

We turned to leave.

"Wait!" Scorpius called.

"What?" I asked.

"Wizards Duel. Tonight. Library. We'll see who's the better wizard of the two of us, fair and square." he added a glare at his cousin at the last words. She shot him a guilty look but did not stand down.

"Albus, no!" Rose said.

"Or, if your to scared.." Scorpius trailed off.

"I'm coming." I snared.

"Good." he smirked.

"Al!" Rose hissed. I ignored her.

"When?"

"Midnight. Be there." with that, he turned and left.

"You're not going." Rose said.

"Try and stop me."

She gave me her best glare, but I wasn't about to back down and let Malfoy think he was better than me. He was going down, tonight. And he was going to go down hard.

"Al-"

"Lets find Victoire." I interrupted.

"Why?" she questioned, now confused.

"Because, I want to know why Verus was in Nurmengard. Dom wont tell us, but-"

"You idiot, do you really think she'll say anything?" Rose asked.

"Worth a try."

"Your just trying to distract me." she accused.

"No I'm not."

"Albus Severus Potter, when will you ever learn not to try and lie to me?" she demanded.

I turned red and grinned in a guilty fashion.

"Its probably a trap, I doubt he'll show."

I had to admit, she had a point. "You might be right.."

"Don't go."

"Fine, whatever."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Huh, maybe I should get James to teach me how to lie to her. Then again, I was still kinda mad at my big brother Until I was sure whether or not he'd been framed, I wasn't going to let go of that anger. I guess all Potter's where stubborn like that, or maybe it was just me.

Okay. Stay up until 11:30. Check. Get up without waking dorm mates. Check. Sneak out of the room and make my way down to the common room. Check. Sneak out before Rose could notice. Che-

"Al, I swear I will curse you."

Damn it! I turned, and there she was, sitting beside a dying fire, in her pajamas.

"Rose, go to bed." I snapped.

"No, you're not going, you idiot." she snared. Her red hair was messy, which made me aware of the fact that she'd just gotten up. she must have been waiting for me.

"Try and stop me." I challenged.

She raised eyebrow at this, then drew her wand.

"_Umbarus!_" I shouted.

"Albus!" she shouted from the dark as I turned and ran for it. I ducked through the portrait hole, Rose right behind me. "Albus Severus Potter, get back here!"

I turned. "Rose, just stop."

"No, back in the common room. You're just going to get yourself in trouble!"

"You go, I'll be fine."

"Naive.." she said, annoyed. "Fine, your choi-" she turned, then cussed loudly.

"Uh, Rose?"

"The Fat Lady is gone! She must have gone for a midnight stroll or something with Violet."

"Who?" I asked.

She turned to glare, as if it where all my fault- which, technically, it was.

"The friend she goes of and gets drunk with. I'm coming with you."

"Oh, now you wanna come?" I huffed.

She rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't have let you go alone anyways, you idiot. I might not like it, but someone has to watch your back. Come on, lets get it over with."

That kinda surprised me, but I guess it shouldn't have, not really. Rose was the kind of person that would always have your back- even if she had an annoying way of showing it.

We sneaked around, past snoring painting on our way to the library. We found the doors wide open. I thought it was kinda strange, but walked in anyways. There was no sign of Scorpius, yet. I checked my watch. It was five fast twelve.

"You're late." a voice drawled.

We turned to see him standing there, in the shadows, leaning against the walls, his arms crossed. Next to him was that guy that I thought would get along nicely with Damian, Nico.

"You showed up." Rose said, sounding surprised.

"Of course I did! I said I would, didn't I?" Scorpius snapped as he stood. Her face flushed Weasley red in anger.

"Shut it before I hurt you, Malfoy!"

"Try it then, have a go!"

"Guys, stop flirting." Nico laughed. They glared at him.

"We're not flirting!" they both snared, blushing.

"Right..." I said slowly as if talking to a five year old. Rose smacked me upside the head, causing me to laugh.

"Shh, any much louder and we'll get caught!" Nico reminded us.

"Sorry." I said as i calmed down. Then I shot one last look at Rose and burst out laughing again. She had a scarlet brush running down her cheeks, with her eyes narrowed dangerously. Anyone else would have cowered, but I guess I'm just crazy enough to laugh in the face of certain death.

"Let's do this." Scorpius said.

"Right." I replied, taking a stance.

"On three."

"One." I said.

"Two." he said.

"Three!" we shouted together.

"_Rictumseptra!_"

"_Vermillious!_"

The spells collided in the air, sparks flying everywhere. I dodged under a table, holding my wand at the ready.

"Scared, Potter?" Scorpius demanded from who knows where.

"In you dreams, Malfoy!" I snapped as I turned and shot out a jinx.

"Idiots." I heard Rose.

"I told him that, but he wouldn't listen." I heard Nico sigh.

I searched around, trying to find him, when saw it- the edge of Scorpius' robe, barely visible in the moon light coming from the windows, behind a book shelf. I pointed my wand at it.

"Come on, Malfoy! Or are you ready to admit I'm better!" I challenged.

"_Everte Statum!_" he shouted, but from where I was looking- it came from my left. I barely managed to dodge the inx as it crahsed into a bookshelf, tossing aside some of the books there.

"Stop!" Rose snared.

I stood. Scorpius and I glared at each other. Together, we lifted out wands.

"_Flipendo!_" we both shouted. The blue lights clashed in the air, sending sparks everywhere, lighting some of the fallen paper on fire..

"Idiots!" Rose shouted as it spread, one of the book shelf burning. "_Aguamenti!_" she shouted, but the flames refused to die.

"What- who! Who's in here!" we heard Madam Pince snaring.

We all shared a look, before turning and running as fast as our feet could carry us right out the door. Hopefully, Madam Pince wouldn't find us. A couple of staircases later, we stopped, exhausted.

"That.. was..." Scorpius muttered.

"Your both mental." Rose snapped.

Me and Scorpius shared a look.

"Brilliant!" we grinned at each other as both Rose and Nico looked at us a little weirdly. We highfived.

"You almost light us one fire.. You burn half the library down.. We have to run for our lives. And you call that brilliant?" Rose demanded.

"Yes." we laughed.

"Boys.." she shook her head, her eyes dancing dangerously.

"So, draw?" Scorpius asked.

"Draw." I agreed.

"And he calls me weird." Nico mumbled to Rose, who was not in a laughing mood.

"Lets get out of here before Mr. Gale finds us." she said simply.

"Who?" I asked.

"The caretaker. He'll probably get the ghosts on us if he can't find us. Next time, I'll win." Scorpius smirked.

"Next time!" Rose and Nico exclaimed.

We grinned, and they face palmed.

"Let's go.." Rose dragged me of as Nico did the same with Scorpius.

From then on, we weren't friends, but we weren't enemies either. More like frenemies, rivals. The last thought that crossed my mind as I drifted of was that I seriously hope Madam Pince never figured out h=who actually started a fire in her library. I shivered at the though(hey, who wouldn't at the concept of a vulture like librarian swooping down on you?)

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><p>Umbarus; Umbara is Latin for shadow(the only one I made up in this chapter)<p>

Rictumsceptra; Tickling Jinx

Vermillious; charm that shoots out sparks

Everte Statum; tosses person back as if 'hit by a frying pan'

Flipendo; knockback jinx

Aguamenti; water conjuring charm


	6. Flying

A/N; next chapter! I'm not sure at what rate this story is going to continue, but I will try to update it more frequently, even if I said I wanted to keep it in synch with the Reading the Books fic. I want to get through these a little faster, since I keep inserting hits about whats going to happen in my other fic, and I don't want to ruin this story to much like that.

Protego Totalum; your welcome, and I had her kinda apologize in this chapter. Kinda. But she still apologizes.

Skaterofthebooks; No, I needed a way for them to become rivals and I though a duel would be best.

Pelahnar; I love your reviews haha. Hmm. I think if Malfoy had shown up he'd have gotten his arse kicked, then ran away like a little girl, but that's just me.

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

**Flying**

To our relief, Madam Pince never realized who exactly lit a fire in her library in the middle of the night. I swear, that old vulture lady is ancient.

Rose was mad. Very mad. But, to my benefit, she wasn't the kind of person to rat on someone. So, when Professor McGonagall stood before the hall in the morning and demanded to know if anyone knew anything about the library incident, she kept her lips sealed. Her expression, however, was angry.

She shouted something about how when she found out who did it, they'd be sorry when Savanna asked her what was wrong. It was brilliant. No one suspected her, and, by extension, me.

I looked across the hall, and winked and Scorpius. He smirked in response.

"Are you friends with that Slytherin?" James brought me out of my thoughts in a cold demand as we where leaving the hall.

"Who?" I played stupid.

"You know who!" he snapped. "Malfoy."

"Kinda. So?" I asked, annoyed.

"So? He's a Malfoy. You're a Potter. Were not suppose to get along, Al."

"Because of a name I'm suppose to hate him?" I spat.

"Family honor. His dad made our dads life hell when at school. Draco Malfoy was one of the worst students to ever walk these halls. You've befriended the enemy."

"He's not the enemy, and he isn't even my friend! More like frenemy, rival, you know?"

"I'm ordering you to stay away."

"You can't order me!"

"I'm just trying to watch out for you."

"Well, I don't need watching!" I snapped, turning and leaving. I heard him sigh but I did not turn around.

For the next few days, Rose avoided me. Whenever I tried to approach and apologize she huffed and turned her head away from mine. This led to me becoming acquainted with my other dorm mates, Stephen and Damian. I was still at odds with Eric because of the things he'd said about Uncle Bill, and I still had no idea what the name of the fifth kid in our dorm was. The fifth was quiet and shy, keeping to himself. He'd be friendly and talk if approached, but other wise stayed silent. I learned Damian was born over seas, in Mexico. I had the impression that something bad happened there, but, not wanting to be nosy, didn't ask. Stephen was just another normal wizard, the son of a pair of Muggle-borns.

Then Tuesday happened. Possible the best day of the year so far. Why?

Flying lessons!

I was thrilled. Rose was.. Well, she was unsure. She wasn't scared, really, but she was under the impression she probably wouldn't be to good. When I asked why, she laughed. "Have you ever seen my mum on a broom? Hilarious sight, I tell you." Then, she went back to glaring at me. Apparently, she remembered at that point that she was suppose to be mad at me. Ah, life's never simple, is it?

We had flying lessons with the Ravenclaws. The way Jacob Night boasted, you'd think he was born flying a broom stick straight over London.

"My name is Oliver Wood, I will be your flight instructor." Coach Wood spoke as he walked about, his hands crossed behind his back. His right eye was a deep brown, but it was nothing compared to his left. It was empty, not seeing, pale and dead. A single thin scar ran down it, but the rest of his face was cheerful and full of life. A few people stared rudely, me included, until Rose kicked me and gave me a look. "Ahh.. This." Coach Wood grinned as he pointed to his blind eye. "Lost it here, actually.." he motioned to the castle, causing us to gasp. "But that's another story. Now, I want you each to stand above your respective brooms and shout up!" he ordered.

We did so, and I wondered silently where that scar came from. Then again, he wasn't the only teacher with battle wounds like that. If you looked closely, McGonagall had a very subtle gash running sideways through her cheek. And Uncle Bill did have those werewolf scars.. And, once, I'd even noticed faint words on Uncle George's hands that said the words_ I must not prank_. I asked him about it, but he refused to tell me and pretended I'd made it up. Aunt Hermione had a think scar on her neck, and once, I'd caught a glimpse of something on her arm before she covered it up. I stopped the thoughts then and there, this was not something I wanted to think about, my family being hurt so I focused on the safer things; not crashing.

"Up!" we chanted. Mine jumped into my hands with ease. I smirked. Rose huffed in annoyance when her broom went half way up, before falling back down. The only other student who's broom went up as quickly as mine was a Ravenclaw boy who's name I didn't know. He had dark eyes and hair, which contrasted the pale skin.

Coach Wood beamed at the two of us. "Good job Potter, Carmichael." he approved.

There was anew waves of ups from the crowd. Savannah Nest's broom refused to rise, or even roll at all. Eric's rolled a little, rose half an inch, then fell back down, causing him to curse under his breath. Jacob's, despite his boasting, rose hallway up then stayed there as he concentrated, trying to bring it all the way up. They al chanted again, and those who had brooms that simply refused to listen picked it up whilst Coach wood's back was turned.

"Okay now, take your brooms like this, and mount them. Careful now!" Coach Wood called.

I was eager to get of the ground already, and was annoyed at having to wait as everyone else was slow on the uptake. Only the other boy, Carmichael, was as quick on the uptake as me.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard." said Coach Wood. "Keep your brooms steady now, rise above a few feet, then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle** —** three** —** two** —** one!"

We rose into the air with ease. I wanted to kick of, I wanted to soar the skies, but I was apparently not allowed to do that(evil teachers).

The rest of the lesson was rather peaceful. It ended, to my delight, with Coach Wood giving me, Rose, Jacob and Carmichael permission for a quick race, since we where the only ones who where any good. We kicked of, from one end to the other, zooming as quickly as we could. I shouted in delight, neck in neck with Rose. Neither of us noticed Carmichael and Jacob taking a shortcut, and we cursed when we found them at the finish line, grinning at us.

After that, Rose seemed to have decided to let go of her grudge, but under the threat if I ever went out dueling again she would personally make sure I'd spend a week in the med ward.

I was sitting outside in the Courtyard the next day, just lying down on the grass while Rose was of doing home work that I couldn't be bothered with when James snuck up on me.

"Hey brother." he grinned.

"Whatever your planning, I want no part." I told him flatly and he laughed.

"Not that. I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"You lit the library on fire, didn't you?"

I jumped a mile as I turned to him, wide eyed. He was grinning, ear to ear.

"How-"

"I have my ways. And I must say, lighting a fire in the library little brother? I.. I couldn't be more proud!" he mock sobbed.

My cheeks went red.

"But a question, what where you doing there so late at night?"

"Dueling." I confessed. Might as well.

"Dueling?" he repeated grinning. "Ah, I knew I'd corrupt you one day, Al! Who?" he asked.

"Scorpius." I said, and he frowned a little.

"Ah.. Wait.." he realized, looking at me. "That's how you became, what did you call it, frenemies, isn't it!"

"Yup." I laughed.

"Huh. Surprised he showed, his cousin ditched on me and set Gale on my arse last year. I've been trying to get him back ever since."

That reminded me. I felt like face palming. The whole point of the little show me and Rose put up in Flitwick's class? I wanted Scorpius to go ask his cousin, and I, as the super spy I am, would follow and listen in. I completely forgot when he through the duel card at me!

"What's wrong? You didn't loose, did you? If so, little brother, I must teach you the noble art of jinxes and hexes." James said.

"No, not that." I mumbled, trying to think of a new plan.

"You won." he grinned.

"Nah, draw. The second the fire started we ran like hell." I informed him.

"Ah, cursing at a young age I see. I have corrupted you well." he grinned, and I laughed. My brother was an idiot, but a loveable idiot. "If not that, though, then whats wrong?"

Hm. Should I tell him? I wasn't sure. If James hadn't been framed, and I told him my suspicions on Theo, then, of course, he'd find some way of framing said Slytherin.

"Its nothing." I assured, but he didn't look convinced. The concerned look in his eyes.. Sometimes, its hard to remember that under all of James annoying jokes, pranks, and general behavior there's a very defensive person over those he cares about. Hm. That's a point to the framed theory, I guess.

The days turned to weeks, passing like sand through an hour-glass. At least, years later, that's how it all felt. Scorpius and I competed in almost every class, though Rose usually out did the two of us in almost all subjects.

Then, one Charms class, Tabitha came up to us. "Look.. Um, I'm sorry for casting a slipping jinx on you." she said lamely.

"That's not why your here, though." Rose said as she narrowed her eyes.

"Rose, she's trying to apologize." I snapped. She glared.

"No, she's right." Tabitha said. I stared. So, was she sorry or not? "I wanted to talk to you about my brother.."

Oh. That.

"What about him?" I ask casually.

"I'm worried about him. He's been behaving... Oddly of late, and I don't know why." she answered. There was a sad look in her eyes, concerned, identical to the one I'd seen in James' eyes a few days back.

Rose stood and put a hand on her shoulder. Tabitha was surprised, but I wasn't. Rose might have a tough front, but buried deep within was a kind little girl. And when I say deep, I mean deep deep.

"Are you okay?" she asks softly.

Tabitha bites her lip. "I just don't know whats happening. Before, I'd have said he'd never do something like pull a prank and frame someone else for it, but.. I don't know anymore, like he's.. Turning into a completely different person."

I realized something. That's why she had hesitated when we'd asked. She wasn't completely sure anymore. I felt sorry for her, really sorry.

"Look, we'll get to the bottom of this." I promised, but the words felt empty coming from my tongue. How could I be sure me and Rose could solve this puzzle, and even worse, assure this girl that we would?

"Thanks." she smiled.

She turned, and left. Rose and I exchanged looks. Theo wasn't acting normal, his sister barely recognized him anymore. Verus had taken a dangerous gamble. There was still the Chime- why didn't I see it before?

"Hagrid."

"What?" Rose says, confused.

"Who else but Hagrid could possibly manage to train a Chimera to guard anything? I bet you its Hagrid's." I told her.

She thought for a second, before face palming. "How could I have been so stupid, of course your right!"

I grinned smugly.

"Don't let it get to your head, Pot-head." she snapped, seeing the expression.

"Pot-head?" I asked, horrified. She laughed. Damn it. She'd come up with a nickname for me. A nickname she'd probably only use for a single purpose- to annoy me half to death.

We made plans to see Hagrid in the afternoon, but our way there was interupted by a loud bang. We exchanged looks before turning around and peering into an almost empty classroom.

"I'm sorry!" Theo shouted.

"Excuses, boy!" Verus snapped. I paled.

"Look, I'll get it done!" Theo pleaded.

"You better, boy, lest it all fall apart on us. Go!" Verus snapped, and Theo came striding our way.

We ran of, towards the common room, panting. This changed things, changed them a lot. Proof everything was linked, and Verus was the source. Was it a gamble, or a trap? I wasn't sure anymore, but it couldn't be good either way..


	7. Halloween

A/N; Next chapter! Just so you all know, I happen to be making this up as I go along. Personally, I think that it might be better if I didn't but I can't seem to come up with stuff in any other way for this story. Anyways, random rant over! enjoy! Please review!

Skaterofthebooks; thank you :)

Protego Totalum; his full name is Theodore Orion Nott. It says so a few chapters back. Four, I think.

Pelahnar; Verus may or may not be guilty!(even after this chapter). As I am making this up as I go along, I'm not sure yet. As for the up thing, eh. I'm not J.K. Rowling. If I was, I would a) be a girl and b) be rich. Neither of which sound very appealing. Thanks for the review :)

flourish1998; well here's the next chapter :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<br>**

**Halloween  
><strong>

I'd like to say we did something about what we saw, what we heard.

I'd like to say we went to Professor McGonagall and informed her right away.

But, instead, we waited.

"It might not be what it seems.." Rose reminded me.

"Its pretty suspicious." I shot back.

"Which is why I'm skeptical."

Professor Verus was as cheerful as always. It was hard to imagine that this fun, eccentric teacher had once been a follower of some long fallen dark wizard. Th few times I saw Theo, though.. He looked like he was loosing sleep, tired and broken. Tabitha was worried. Even James was concerned over his rivals well being. To my surprise, I witnessed him pulling Theo aside in the hall one day and asking him what was wrong.

Halloween was approaching. Since the school hadn't collapsed yet, I was pretty sure nothing to serious had happened yet. I didn't like Halloween, at all. Dad always seemed.. Depressed on that day, but he would never tell us why. When I asked Rose, she just looked at me sadly.

"That was.. That was the day his parents died."

I grimaced at that. I knew my grandparents had been murdered, knew they died heroes, like both of my namesakes, in a war so many years ago. And they died on that day.. No wonder dad hated it. Then the thought of my dad being alone, without his parents there.. I have both of mine, and, call me a momma's boy and laugh if you want, but I couldn't imagine life without them.

Professor Bane's class was particularly annoying. Apparently the fact that it was a holiday today failed to effect his usual mood. He had us learning hot to brew Forgetfulness Potion, and I, as usual, was the worst. It was difficult to tell who was best, Scorpius, Rose, or Maria Ana Lestrange.

Suddenly, Professor Verus walked in, causing heads to turn. Why was the Transfiguration Professor visiting the Potions Master?

"Badar." Professor Verus called.

Professor Bane turned, and scowled at Professor Verus.

"Vantias. Is there a reason for interrupting my class?"

Professor Verus nudged his head in the direction of the hall. "I need to speak with you. It is urgent."

Professor Bane raised eyebrow.

"Urgent enough to interrupt my lesson?"

"Indeed. Very, very urgent.." Professor Verus replied, his tone grave.

The forgetful potion was forgotten(no pun intended) as we all gaped, staring back and forth between the two professors.

Professor Bane turned to look at us each in turn. "I want each of you to work on your potion while I am away. Take care not to cause any mayhem while I am away." he turned and strode out of the room, Verus following closely behind. No one followed orders, as the room broke into chatter.

I turned to Rose.

"What's happening?" I asked her, hoping she, with all her brain power, might be able to figure out an answer.

"I... I don't-"

There was suddenly a loud bang and we all jumped a mile in the air.

"You cannot be serious!" we heard Professor Bane roar.

Me and Rose exchanged looks.

Professor Bane stormed back in, looking livid.

"Badar, listen to me-"

Professor Bane turned, drawing his wand and pointing it at Professor Verus, who stared at him, bewildered.

"Really?"

I was surprised. The way Verus always talked.. As if desperate for a fight, yet confronted with the chance before him, and he asks really?

"Do not test my patience, Vantias." Professor Bane spat. Professor Verus narrowed his eyes, before turning and departing. Professor Bane turned back to us. Noticing how we where all staring, he snared. "What are you all doing? Get back to work!"

Professot Flitwicks class is far less exciting. "Today, we will be learning the levitation charm." the small professor informed us. "Remember, swish and flick! _Wingardium Leviosa, _swish and flick!"

Of course, only one student managed it. If you can't guess, your blinder than dad.

"Ms. Weasley's done it!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed in excitement.

"Know it all.." I heard Scorpius grumble and I shot him a glare. He sneered in return. Then I caught Tabitha's eye, and I motioned her over. What I didn't expect was for her to drag Scorpius along with her. "Mind telling me why you happen to be dragging me, dear cousin?" Scorpius asked casually.

She ignored him, and turned to me, sweeping a stray piece of hair from her face as she looks at me. "What did you find out?"

Rose narrowed her eyes at me, but I ignored her.

"Verus. Your brothers working for Professor Verus."

"Wait, what?" Scorpius gasped.

Rose shot me a side glare before turning back to Scorpius. "He's doing a job for Professor Verus. Whatever it is, it isn't going well. Its what's been stressing him lately."

"He's scared." I added in.

"Wait.. Professor Verus is scaring my brother?" Tabitha snared, her face turning first red then calculating. "Oh, just you wait, he's going to pay.."

At this point, I made a personal note to never piss this girl off. The look in her eyes..

Scorpius looked like he was thinking, thinking hard. "Wait.. If that's true, and your also right about Theo setting the ghosts on us, then.." he trails of, meeting Rose's eyes.

"It was a distraction!" they snap in unison.

"But Verus was there." I point out.

Their brief moment dies before Rose's eyes widen.

"Bane! He's probably in on it!" she snaps her fingers.

"Professor Bane?" Tabitha asks skeptically.

So, we tell her what happened during our Potions class, causing both her and Scorpius to exchange dark looks.

"I don't like this." Scorpius concludes.

"None of us do.." I tell him.

Dinner and the Great Hall had a tense atmosphere, like everyone was expecting something bad to happen. Both Professors Bane and Verus looked ousted, everyone once and a while the former turning to send a glare at the latter, who in turn just sighed. I saw Uncle Neville narrowing his eyes, noting the exchange. Across the hall, I noticed Scorpius and Tabitha trying to get through to Theo, but he seemingly refused to listen to them.

I exchanged a look with Rose. "We have to tell Uncle Neville.."

She nods in agreement, but just then, Victoire shoes up, Dominique right behind her.

"Have any of you seen the Prophet?" she demands as she sits down, displaying the newspaper. She motions Fred and James over.

"Why, what happened?" Fred asks.

"_Reported Attacks Startle International Authorities"_

She reads the title, before passing it along to us. In silence, we read.

_Attacks all over Europe are increasing at an alarming rate. Last night, a German witch was found dead within the German Ministries Atrium. This is the latest in a series of murders that have baffled the Wizarding community all across the continent._

_Deaths have been reported in dozens of countries so far, all following similar pattern. Each death has been connected to a Ministry worker, each murder has taken place elsewhere before the body was disposed of and left to be found by workers coming in for morning shift. The range of these killings span from Spain to as far away as Poland, with reports that Russian authorities may be hushing up such deaths in their own territory._

_Over a dozen deaths have been reported in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Albania, Austria, and Greece, two each, always a male, then a female or in reverse order._

_The first was an Albanian witch, found dead in the Albanian Minister's own office. Adelina Tahiri, who's body was found mutilated beyond recognition and was only recognizable due to personal objects found on the body, had been reported alive less than five hours previous. Her sister, Valmira, cried and told authorities that Adelina had been with her, before she suddenly seemed to remembered something, gave her a hasted good bye, and departed without a second word._

_Supreme Mugwump and former British Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt has called for an international team of Auror's to be established to combat this epidemic._

_British Minister, Oswald Grey, however, has stated the United Kingdom will have no part in this, as no deaths have yet to occur on English soil. This resulted in the International Confederation of Wizards reaching a stand off against each other, many siding with Shacklebolt, while others stating that it simply isn't 'their problem'._

_ Head of the Auror Department, the famous Harry Potter, has declared quote 'If the Minister doesn't do something, believe me, I will.' He also went on to saying that this type of apathetic stance on things was what led to You-Know-Who's take over of the British Ministry twenty years earlier._

_Europe holds its breath as the deaths continue to escalate, the timing between each murder thinning. Until this killer is caught, Ministry workers across Europe walk in fear of being the next possible target of this mysterious mass murder._

We all looked up, shocked.

"What does this mean?" Rose asked in a horrified tone.

"I don't know.." Victoire said, shooting a glare at Verus. "But I don't like it.."

"Do you think Verus is involved?" my question took her, and everyone else besides Rose, by surprise.

"Why do you think that?" Victoire demanded.

"Well, he was imprisoned at Nurmengard." I said, throwing all caution out the window.

"What!" James, Justin, and Fred all exclaimed, drawing looks.

"Shh!" Victoire snapped, before turning back to me. "How did you find out?"

"I.. Uh.. Kinda heard Uncle Neville and your dad talking about it." I felt my cheeks turn red.

"Eavesdropping.. I'm so proud.." James pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes, then dodged as Rose attempted to hit him.

"This is serious, James!" she snared.

Victoire grimaced. "Verus wasn't just a follower.. In all honestly, if he wasn't here, now, sitting in this hall at the very moment, I'd be willing to bet he was behind all those murders.."

"Wait.. We have an ex killer as our Transfiguration teach?" James asked, his eyes going wide.

"Worse. Professor Verus was-"

Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a thunderous clang. We all looked around in confusion. The doors to the Great Hall smash open, and there before out eyes is Professor Bane, looking livid and worried at the same time. How, don't ask me. He just does.

Wait.. I turn and look up at the staff table, and.. Now, I may not be too intelligent, I might not be one of those kids who aces all his classes, but I am pretty sure a person cannot be in two places at the same time. And sure enough, there he is, Professor Bane, sitting at the staff table, staring wide eyed at his doppelganger.

"What.. Badar, who is this?" Professor McGonagall demands.

Since its confusing thinking about these two being the same person, I'm just going to call the new Bane Bane in my head and the one sitting at the table Badar. Still using that thought pattern, it was confusing.

Bane lifted a single accusing finger, pointing it at the other him. "Fake." he spat.

Badar stands. "Who. The bloody hell. Are you!" he snares.

"I am Badar Bane. And you are an imposter!" Bane shouts.

Badar narrows his eyes. "I don't know who you are, or why you happen to be masquerading as me, but believe me I will find out!"

"Rose, which one is real?" I ask her. Surely she, with her annoying habit of catching liars, can figure it out?

"I.. I don't.." she shakes her head.

Professor Verus stands, his eyes narrowed as he glances between the two Banes.

Everyone else is to shocked to move.

"Imposter." Bane spits.

"One of them has taken Polyjuice potion." Verus points out.

"That is obvious." McGonagall snaps. Then she turns, giving each Bane a stern look. "Both of you, with me, now!"

She rounds the table, Badar grumbling as he follows. Uncle Neville stands.

"Minerva, maybe I should-"

"No, stay here." McGonagall says, before leaning in and whispering something in his ear. He nods and sits back down.

McGonagall turns, snaps at Badar to hurry up, and they both strode out of the hall, Bane following cloesly behind.

There's silence for a few seconds, minutes, maybe even days before someone speaks up.

"What the hell just happened!" a Hufflepuff, second year by the looks of it, shouts out.

"Kevin, don't swear!" someone who I guess must be his sister snaps at him.

The murmuring breaks out. Uncle Neville and Uncle Bill are both locked in an avid conversation. Verus looks worried. But the most alarmed out of all the Professors seems to be an elderly one wearing shaws, giant spectacles that make her look like an over sized insect. She seems to be hyperventilating.

"Who's that?" I ask Victoire.

"Who- oh, just Professor Treleway. Old fraud if you ask me." she then turns back to Dominique, continuing what ever conversation they'd been talking about.

Another bang. A shriek.

"Stop h-" the voice of one of the Bane's is iterupted with a second ear-splitting bang, worse than the first, like a sonar blast. The teachers, standing in alarm, clutch at their ears in pain.

"Fall." a voice echoes.

Uncle Neville is in the lead as the Professors rush out, the students not far behind.

"Stay back!" Professor Hawthorn orders, but we don't listen as we all gather. There, spread eagled with his eyes half closed, is Professor Bane. The real one, I assume. A note is splayed over his body. We gasp in terror. Uncle Neville reaches the body, puts a finer on his neck. "He's alive!" he shouts out, before picking up the note.

His face turns pale as it drops from his hands.

"Neville?" Uncle Bill says.

Uncle Neville doesn't even respond to the sound of his name.

Professor Verus walks forth, picking up the note. His voice is grave as he reads out the few words splayed on the paper.

_"Her corpse will mark this place forever.."_


	8. The Shapeshifter

A/N; Next chapter! I will try to update the next one a little quicker. Please review! And yes, it was McGonagall that was kidnapped. And the kidnapper? No even human.

Thanks for the reviews and adds!

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

**The Shapeshifter **

Minerva McGonagall. War hero. One of the greatest Headmistresses Hogwarts had ever know. Feared and respected across the nation, one of the greatest witches of her age.

And she'd been kidnapped.

Minister Grey's words kept echoing in my head, 'not our problem'... Yeah, now it is you stupid piece of... My thoughts trailed of to words that would likely cause mum to use a cleaning charm on my mouth.

They rounded us up into the Great Hall that night.

"We must search the castle. Mr. Gale, round up the ghosts! Have them search every tiny crevice they can find!" Uncle Neville commanded.

The entire castle was being searched. As we layed down on dark blue sleeping bags Professor Verus had conjured, I couldn't help but feel this was my fault.

"Go to sleep!" I heard Victoire snap at someone. Sometimes, I personally think that making her Head Girl was the worst possible thing to do. It multiplied her bossy side tenfold.

My eyes closed, but I couldn't sleep. I seriously doubted anyone else could, after witnessing that. The words kept echoing in my skull.

Her corpse will mark this place forever... I was scared. Really scared.

I wondered silently where Verus played a role in all this. Where Bane played a role. Something strange was happening, the details didn't match up. The murders across the continent, Uncle Neville's cryptic words floating back to me as I slept, _"A new war will begin if the chance he took back fires, and it will start here, at Hogwarts_..." If he was in anyway responsible for this.. My mind clouded in angered thoughts as I started to drift of to sleep, when in the back of my mind I subtly noticed a conversation going on, my senses peaking in interest.

"No sign anywhere in the castle?" Uncle Neville asked.

"No. We've searched everywhere. Its like they simply vanished.." Professor Hawthorn replied.

"They can't have! You can't dissaparate within Hogwarts grounds." Uncle Neville said.

I turned my body over ever so slightly, my eyes darting open ever so slightly to see. Uncle Neville had his back to me, but Professor Hawthorn seemed agitated. Standing beside them was a pale looking Victoire.

"Do you think it has anything to do with-?" she began.

"No, Verus was here, at the staff table, eh couldn't have possible been involved." Uncle Neville told her.

"I wouldn't be so sure.." Professor Hawthorn said darkly. "After all, the man in a mass murderer. As cunning as they come."

I paled. Mass.. Murderer? The doors of the hall opened quickly before being shut. In came the figure of Uncle Bill, looking disheveled.

"Is he awake?" Uncle Neville asked.

"No.. He's been put under some type of dark curse. I've never seen the kind of it, and I've seen some nasty things down in Egypt with the ancient traps they set there." Uncle Bill said, sounding grave.

In the dim moonlight coming from above, I saw Professor Hawthorn pale.

"This is not good.."

I felt the savage urge to yell 'what gave you the idea!'

The next day, things where somber in the hall. Uncle Neville had taken on his role as Deputy Headmaster and announced that the school would be put not only under Auror protection, led by dad, but that for now all Potions classes where canceled.

"The school will be put under full protection. While we don't believe the kil- Kidnapper is still on grounds, extreme security measures must be taken. I simply ask you all to do your best to stay out of trouble. Any student caught after hours will, to my annoyance, believe me, serve no less than a week's detention-"

He was interrupted with an uproar from the students and had to send several golden sparks into the air to restore order.

"Look, I don't like it anymore than any of you! But this is for your own safety. Please?"

There was general silence before a Slytherin girl who's name I didn't know perked up. "What about Professor Bane? Is he alright?" she asked.

Uncle Neville shot dad a look, who nodded before standing. Uncle Neville sat as the spot light shifted on to dad. "Professor Bane has been transferred to St. Mungos." the school gasped. "His condition isn't critical!" dad assured, calming people down a bit. "But he seems to be locked in a paralysis. The Healers are doing their best to revive him, but at the current moment, his condition is static."

"What?" James asked, a confused look on his face.

Dad looked like he was holding back to urge to laugh fondly at his son. This earned him a a few glares, which where then redirected in my direction when I laughed.

"He's frozen. Not prettified, just asleep." Dad said, reassuming his serious attitude.

"Asleep?" someone from Hufflepuff sneered.

"Yes. He seems to be asleep. The healers are simply baffled, and they can't break him out of it. On a different but related matter," Dad put an end to the discussion before more questions could be sent his way. "Half a dozen Aurors will be stationed at Hogwarts at all times. We can't risk something like this happening again. Now, excuse me, I have a meeting with the Minister to discuss some very important international issues..." dad trailed of, as he started walking away. Cue the mumbling. I shot dad a look and he smiled reassuringly at me before walking out the doors and making his depart.

I turned to Rose. "We have to tell."

She nodded, her expression grim.

The day passes with a dark air about it. The lessons seemed to zoom by. I barely payed attention to Professor Hawthorn's rant over the last Vampire War, and ended up accidentally paper-cutting myself while jotting down some notes. My concentration during Transfiguration was atrocious, while Professor Verus attempted to teach us new minor switching spells. I tried my best to act casual around him, but by the end of the lesson, he had shot me a confused look with narrowed eyes. I hadn't told Rose what I'd over heard. In all honestly, I didn't want to believe it. And I didn't want to scare her more than she already was.

For once, I wanted to got to Herbology. Annoyingly, that wasn't until Thursday. Our resolve was to go to Uncle Neville after dinner.

But we never got a chance.

We would be rushed out of the hall as soon as we where done, and even if we hadn't, both Uncle's Neville and Bill had taken an annoying habit of disappearing at meal times. I don't know where they'd gone of too, but they never seemed to be there. Other teachers seemed to be following suit as well. Professor Verus was rarely seen at all. Hagrid had taken habit of showing up mid way through the meal, eating quickly, then departing without a word. Then there where the Aurors. I knew only two of them on sight, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, two of my dads old school friends. The others, however, where complete strangers to me.

We where starved for news. Luckily, no death had yet to be reported. I voiced this to Rose, but she said Minister Grey might be holding back the Prophet at the moment.

Finally, Herbology arrived. Uncle Neville was teaching us about various magical plants when the bell rang. The students rushed out, but Rose and I stayed behind. Uncle Neville was packing his things, evidently ready to depart, when he noticed we where still in the Greenhouse.

"Yes?" he asked, standing up.

Rose and I exchanged looks before I began.

"We know about the Chimera." I said bluntly.

Uncle Neville's eyes widened as he stared at us, before he let out a laugh. Bewildered, we stared in confusion.

"Should have known you two of all people would have found out.." he said, shaking his head in slight amusement. "Just like your parents. I remember one time where they discovered a giant three headed dog- and dragged _me _along for the ride."

"Theo is working for Verus." Rose interrupted him.

Uncle Neville's expression became far more serious. "Theo.. Of course.." he mumbled to himself, rounding the table and moving to look out the window, his back turned to us. I narrowed my eyes. Uncle Neville was one of the worst liars in the history of deception. I was sure he was trying to hide whatever expression adorned his face from us at the current moment.

"What do you mean, of course?" Rose snared, her face flushing Weasley red with anger.

Uncle Neville turned back to face us, catching on to her tone. "Thank you, both of you. I will deal with Verus personally. I will find out what he's been doing to this boy, but I have had my suspicions for some time.. You've just confirmed them."

Rose and I exchanged yet another heated look.

"What suspicions?" I asked.

"I'll handle that. You two have already done more than enough." Uncle Neville said, moving past us quickly to get his things. As he was striding towards the door, I said words that I would later regret.

"Verus is a mass murderer!" Uncle Neville froze, his hand lifted halfway up towards the handle.

"Al-?" Rose began, her face a lit with confusion.

"He was a follower of Grindelwald, he was imprisoned at Nurmengard! You think he's responsible for all this, and I know e took some sort of gamble!" I said quickly before either could interrupt me.

Uncle Neville turned, a mask on his face, impassive. The silence drowned on as he simply stared at the two of us. "You are far much like your father." he finally said. "And a threat that must be eliminated."

"What?" Rose shouted, wide eyed.

Uncle Neville snared, but he wasn't really Uncle Neville. His iris' turned ruby red against the black of his pupil, red lines that cut like ordinary veins etched into his face as he snared at us. Rose gave a terrified shriek, and yelled at me to run, but I was completely frozen. The hair of my Uncle's head started changing, becoming elongated. He wasn't human. I didn't know what he was. He crouched, ready to pounce.

"_Lumos Solare!" _Rose cried as the beast, whatever it was, readied to pounce. There was a bright flash of light in which I could no longer see before I felt myself being dragged away.

"In there!" a voice shouted.

A snare. A growl. The breaking of glass.

"Don't let it get away!" another voice shouted.

"Albus, Albus!" someone was shaking me, and dazed, I let my eyes open. A face came into focus, before I was brought into a bone breaking hug.

"Dad?" I mumbled.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." dad whispered as he let me go.

"What happened?" I asked, confused.

"Our mysterious friend happened." dad snared, his eyes dancing with rage.

I turned and looked back at the greenhouse. Everything seemed perfectly alright, except for the broken window. Dad helped me to my feet.

"You idiot!" I heard, before I was practically tackled to the ground by Rose.

"Um, hey." I replied hugging her back. She let go and hit me.

"OI! What was that for!"

"For charging at him!" she snapped.

"What?" Dad demanded, giving me a glare.

"What? No I didn't!" I said.

"After I blinded it, you tried to tackle him! And I had to drag you away!" Rose said, her face flushed in anger.

"Rose. I couldn't see. I had no idea where I was going because you didn't tell me to close my eyes before you cast the spell." I told her flatly.

Rose's angered expression turned into embarrassment. "I- um, sorry.." she mumbled.

I turned to dad. "What was that- Uncle Neville! Is he-"

"I'm perfectly fine." a voice said.

We turned and there he was, Uncle Neville, with a large red welt above his left eye.

"It snuck up on me pretending to be you." he pointed at me.

"What!" Dad exclaimed, looking back and forth between me and Uncle Neville, his expression horrified.

"What was it?" I demanded, annoyed no one would answer me.

"Some type of shapeshifter.. The thing is, they can't just transform into anybody, they need a part of who their transforming into." Uncle Neville replied.

I paled. "He- what.."

"Meeting. Now." Dad told Uncle Neville, who nodded.

"Wait.. How will we know who's who? What if someone's an imposter, what if-" Rose began.

"Simple charm for that." a new voice joined us, a voice I feared. Professor Verus was walking towards us, a new limp in his step.

"Did you catch it?" Dad asked.

"Chased it into the forest, it got the best of me there. But I think I wounded the beast." Professor Verus replied.

"Damn!" Dad cursed.

"Wait, you said there was a simply charm." Rose interrupted.

"Ah, yes. _Homenum Revelio_!" He waved his wand. It flashed blue as he pointed it at each us. When it was dirrected at me, i felt a strange swooping feeling. He smiled before putting it away.

"Brilliant.. Reveals human presence! If its not human.." Uncle Neville began.

"The light wont flash." Dad finished.

"Maybe we should get these two back up to the castle." Professor Verus stated, indicating to Rose and I.

"Of course! I'll take them." Dad said, before taking us each by the arm and dragging us off.

"Dad-" I began.

"Wait." he said in a stern voice.

He marched us up to the castle, straight into the Entrance Hall, up a couple of staircases, before finally letting go of my arm right in front of the Portrait of the Fat Lady and digging his hand into his robes. I opened my mouth to say something, but he shook his head as he took a cloak out of his robes.

"What is- wow!" I exclaimed.

Dad grinned.

"Is that an Invisibility Cloak?" Rose asked curiously.

"Yes, indeed it is.. Al, I want you to keep this on you on all times." Dad handed me to the cloak. Before I could reply, he turned to Rose. "and i want you to please, please keep him out of trouble."

Rose nodded vigorously.

"Good. Come on, into the Dormitories." Dad motioned us.

"But-"

"Not now, Al. I have to get back to the school grounds. Just go, if I can I'll talk to you about all this tomorow." Dad said. Grumbling, we made our way towards the portrait hole. "And one more thing.." he said. We turned back. "Don't tell anyone what happened yet. The school will go into a full scale panic. Let us handle that."

"Yeah, sure." I said.

Dad smiled sadly at me before waving us inside once again. As it closed behind us, we exchanged looks.

"We can't trust anybody.." she said.

"Not even.."

"Each other." She finished grimly.


	9. The Shadow

****A/N; next chapter! Please review! Oh, and as I am advertising this on my other fan fic, please check out my stories on Fiction Press!

Thanks for the reviews!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

**The Shadow**

The school entered a relative peace after that. There was still no news on McGonagall, which, according to Minister Grey, meant that in all likely hood the attack at Hogwarts was probably not linked to the attacks sweeping across Europe at all.

Any excuse to keep from doing anything.

Profesor Verus regularly cast the human revealing charm every class, much to the confusion of most of the students.

"Sir?" Jacob night asked one day.

"Yes?" Professor Verus said as he cast the charm.

"Why are you casting a human presence revealing charm on us?" Jacob asked.

"To keep away the Nargles." Professor Verus replied, much to everyone's confusion as he continued down the line.

"They hide in mistletoe's!" I added helpfully, causing people to stare.

Professor Verus winked at me after that, while I silently wondered how he knew what Nargles were.

Potions classes were back on, to my utter annoyance. Though we no longer had a proper Professor, we did have several substitutes. I think the worst was when Uncle Neville was teaching the class. He somehow managed to blow up the hair growth solution he was suppose to be teaching us to brew.

I heard him mutter a few curses as he syphoned up the waste and dismissed us early.

Rose and i invented pass phrases for each other, just to make sure the Shapeshifter, whom I suggested we name Bob, wasn't impersonating the other.

"What was your fathers reaction to the blew sweater Gran sent him last Christmas?" I demanded.

"He freaked, yelled something about being oh so utterly betrayed, then did his best to transfigure it maroon and ended up conjuring a yak in the middle of the living room." Rose answered quickly without taking a single breath. "What happened at your sixth birthday party?"

"James hid a giant fake spider inside the cake and when I cut it open it jumped on me." I answered.

"Ah.. Great memories..." she sighed dreamily as I glared.

Qudditch season was approaching, Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Legend had it that dad was the youngest Seeker of the century, and that he was playing since age 11. Annoyingly enough, that opportunity was not being offered this year.

"Wish me luck." James told me as he was about to leave to try out as a Chaser.

"Don't fall off your broom!" I called back.

James grinned at me as he walked backwards, causing him to crash into Katherin Finnigan, knocking the two of them to the floor.

"Sorry!" He aplogized as he helped her up.

"Watch it, Potter." she said with a grin.

Together, the pair walked out of the Common Room, Justin trailing behind them. With them gone, I could let the mask drop as I turned to Rose.

"We need to see Hagrid." I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"The chimera, that's what." I replied.

So we used my dad's gift to sneak out, since most of the school happened to find itself at the current moment watching to see if the son of the famous Harry potter was going to be able to live up to his predecessor. James might like to put up this mirage of himself of this proud and confident boy who would live up to the expectations and beyond, but i knew the truth. On the inside, behind the mask, he was terrified. Terrified of not living up to dad's legend, which, all things considered, was a very big thing to live up too.

So we walked under the shroud straight to Hagrid's. We let nothing stop us as we knocked upon the great door, removed the cloak, and waited.

"Who be- Oh, it's you two, was wonderin' when you'd come by. Come in!" the half-giant beckoned us in with a large smile lighting his ancient looking face, his dark eyes twinkling.

"Thanks." I said as I walked in. The two of us sat down at the table as Hagrid smiled and went back to his stove. "Anything you'd like?" he called.

"Ye-" I began.

"No thanks!" Rose interrupted as she elbowed me.

"Owe!" I hissed.

"Dad said never to eat Hagrid's food unless you want to end up with a row of broken teeth!" she whispered.

"Alrigh' then." Hagrid said as he sat down himself with a couple of rock cakes. "Wha' brings the pair of yeh down here?" he asked, cutting to the chase.

"We wanted to visit you." I said lamely.

Hagrid snorted. "Yah, right. On the same day yer brother is tryin' out for tha team? I been teachin at this school mighty long, you get to know all the tricks. What brings yeh here?" he asked again.

I blushed crimson. A small part of me felt guilty, knowing Hagrid was right. We hadn't come to visit him all year, despite him being a family friend. And the second we did, he knew it wasn't just for a friendly chat.

"Well?" he asked, arching one large eyebrow that propably had more hair than my head did.

"Why is there a chimera in the seventh hall corridor?" Rose said bluntly.

Hagrid spluttered, chocked on his tea, and spat out a bit of rock cake he'd been eating. "Jus' like yer parents, the pair of yah..." Hagrid grumbled before looking the two of us in the eye. "How do yeh know about Lee Lee?" he demanded.

Silence.

"Lee Lee?" we repeated. A small prat of my brain screamed only Hagrid at hearing the ridiculous name.

"Yeah, Lee Lee. Bought her in a trip down to Greece. Fascenatin' creatures, mind yeh." Hagrid said with a dreamy smile at the concept of a man eating, fire breathing chimera. Again, my mind screamed the words only Hagrid.

"It tried to eat us for breakfast." I stated bluntly.

Silence.

"What!" Hagrid roared as he stood. "Wha' in the name are the two of yeh doin down there anyways, yeh aren't suppose te be-"

"The stairs took us there!" Rose snapped. "We didn't know..." the last part she said with a shudder. It was strange, seeing Rose Weasley of all people, showing even an once of fear. It was unnatural, strange, alien.

Hagrid simply stood there, staring at the two of us. "Buh tha- bu' tha.. The stairs don' even lead to tha corridor!" he said, his mind obviously racing.

"Then how did we end up in it?" I countered.

Hagrid had no answer, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "I don' know.. But yeh best stay away from Lee Lee unless yeh got a death wish." Hagrid told us.

"I made the team, I made the team!" James cried as he ran into the common room, embraced me(which is shocking enough), then did the same to Rose(something only a man with a death wish would do), before running around and cheering like a maniac.

"Congratulations, little cousin." Fred said as he entered, grinning like a maniac.

So, of course, Gryffindor had one of its famous parties, with smuggled buterbeer and food nicked straight from the kitchens. For a moment, all memories of the dark ongoings of the school were forgotten as we all enjoyed a good time. Well, everyone except Rose, who grumbled something incoherent under her breath as she stalked of to her dormitory, that is.

Eventually, the fifth year Prefect, a girl with dark hair and chocolate colored eyes ordered everyone to calm down and to 'get your arses in bed before I call Professor Longbottom'.

The next morning, the somber additude returned as Uncle Neville stood before us at breakfast.

"Settle down, settle down!" he called. as the chatter died down we all looked up. "Now, as you all know, two weeks ago our Headmistress, Minevra McGonagall, for lack of a better word, was abducted. The assailant incapacitated Professor Bane, and took away our Headmistress before we even knew what was happening. The assailant, as we now know, is not even human." gasps followed the words.

"Maybe it's a vampire spy." Damian stage whispered. "Or aliens from Mars! Hm.. Yeah, that's a better theory.." he decided, peacefully oblivious to the looks being sent his way.

"The assailant was a Shapeshifter. Not only that, but we have reason to believe that it is still within the castle." hundreds gasped. As the chatter started, Uncle Neville lifted his wand and shot a golden fire cracker to restore order. "A few days ago, we received an attack. The Shapeshifter attempted an assassination on two of the students here. I wont say who, for the protection of their safety, but I must ask you all not to go looking around!" Uncle Neville said the last part with a quick glance at Rose and I. I tried my best to look innocent, but couldn't help the red tinge that flooded onto my cheek.

"We also have reason to believe that the Headmistress never even left the castle."

At this point, there was such an uproar that the Heads of Houses had to hush up the students along side a couple of over eccentric prefects.

"How is that even possible?"

"What the hell have you been smoking?"

"ENOUGH!" Uncle Neville thundered, causing hundreds to jump. "Silence! Please, have some manner of respect!" he shouted again. When there was no response, he sighed and continued.

"We believe the Shapeshifter has yet to leave the castle, and therefore, has yet to escape with the body. As far as we know, they are incapable of Dissaparation, meaning it would be impossible for it to have escaped so easily. As the body of the Headmistress has yet to be found, we are under the assumption that she is still alive! If any of you see anything, I recommend you either come to myself, Professor Weasley, or Professor Verus."

I was shocked at the last name. Verus? I was sure Uncle Neville didn't trust the man for a second.

"It was probably scar face, I tell you.." Eric Evans muttered. The glare I sent him was so brutally cold that it caused him to pale to the color of bone.

"Also, as I seem to be forced to remind you all, the Seventh Floor Corridor is off limits to all students, unless you wish to meet some gruesome demise. That is all!"

And with that, Neville Longbottom sat back down without a care in the word.

"Today we will be learning minor jinxes!" Uncle Bill called as he strode forth to the front of the class, walking between the desks, passing out papers with several spells listed on them. He reached the front, turning to face us. "Before you are several first year jinxes. Now, I will be teaching you these jinxes for self defense. Self defense only. If I find out any of you are using these jinxes to curse fellow students.." he let the threat hang in the air.

So, we practiced. I quickly found that this was the one subject that I was undeniable better than Rose in, as my Flippendo jinx managed to knock over three Practice dummies in a row.

"Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Uncle Bill applauded.

As the class progressed, Scorpius seemed determined to outdo me in at least one jinx. To his annoyance, if we didn't end up drawing in on area, I ended up outdoing him in another. By the end of the class, the two of us had managed to win thirty points each for our houses.

"Duel tonight, Potter. We'll see who's best outside of class." he whispered.

"Where?" I grinned.

"Well, the tro-"

"Absolutely not!" Rose interrupted as she slammed her fist down.

"Stay out of it!" Scorpius snapped.

"Shut it, Malfoy! There is a killer loose in the school and you want to go wandering around at night? Are you completely mental!" she demanded.

There was silence for a few seconds as we absorbed her words. Then, Scorpius turned to me, and, as if Rose hadn't spoken at all, he continued. "So, tonight in the Trophy Room?" he asked.

He didn't even see the jinx that hit him as Rose cast the knockback jinx on him, sending him flying.

"Rose Evelyn Weasley!" Uncle Bill exclaimed.

"Sorry, missed the target!" Rose lied with perfect ease as Scorpius grumbled a curse under his breath and Nico helped him to his feet.

Uncle Bill eyed her suspiciously but accepted the excuse for now. Rose then turned to me with narrowed eyes.

"Albus Severus Potter, don't even think about it!" she snarled.

"Okay, not thinking, just doing." I replied as I lifted my hands in mock surrender. I was met with the full force of her glare, and, if one thing can be said about Rose, the idea of mixing the Weasley and Granger genes truly made her terrifying.

So, naturally, I responded by sticking my tongue out at her.

Which resulted in a slap that rang across the classroom.

Now, Rose had told me not to. She had even threatened me. And my cheek still stung slightly from her slap. Therefore, logicaly, the only choice layed out before me that I could possible take was to go.

"Brother, where oh where would you be going at this time of night?"

Damn it, why does someone always catch me?

Annoyed, I turned to see James grinning from a seat next to the fire place. "None of your business." I snapped.

"Not snooping around anymore, are we?" he demanded.

"No, I'm not.. Swooping.." my eyes narrowed. James would never say something like that! In face, the idiot would probably encourage me forward. "My sixth birthday party. What was the most memorable part, dear brother?" I questioned.

He raised eyebrow. "The fake tarantula I managed to slip into your birthday cake." he said flatly as he rose. "You were the one the Shapeshifter tried to kill, weren't you? I noticed your cheek going red when Uncle Neville said it." James said.

And, of course, as if one signal, I blushed at his words.

"Yeah, just like that!" he exclaimed gleefully, pointing at my face.

"Shut up." I snapped, turning redder.

"Oh, anyways, as a big brother, it is my duty to make sure you don't die. Or at least that's what Rose said. So, let's go!" he said happily, striding past my shocked figure to stand before the Portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Wait, what?" I turned in confusion.

"Rose told me you were going out dueling tonight and tried to convince me to make sure you didn't. So, naturally, I decided to come with." he grinned.

"Boys... Untrustable.." a new voice muttered as Rose popped up from behind one of the arm chairs. "Pertificus Totalus!"

I was witness to my brother stiffening like a board before falling forward before she turned her wand on me. My instincts kicked in as I jumped out of the way of a second petrification hex.

"Damn it, Albus! Do you want to get yourself killed!" she called.

"Flippendo!" I cried.

Rose dodged the blue light as it struck the wall behind her.

"Al!" she hissed.

"You do realize that this is technically considered a duel, right!" I called right back.

I heard no response, but I was sure she was coupling my name with every swear word Uncle George had though us when mum and Aunt Hermione weren't looking.

"Incarcerous!" suddenly, I was bound by thick brown ropes. I heard the spell shouted again, followed by a tumbling body and Rose swearing loudly.

"Mind you two, we usually keep duels out of the Common Room. Attracts attention, you know." a voice spoke as I was levitated right in between a roped up Rose and frozen James. Before us, none other than Fred Weasley himself was grinning at us.

"Fred! Let me go!" Rose snarled.

"Only if you, my dear, promise to take your little scuffle somewhere else. Don't want to attract the teachers, you know." Fred wagged his finger at her in mock reprimand before lifting his wand and casting a counter curse on James.

"Thanks." James said happily before turning to Rose. "Good one, but did you really think I didn't have a backup plan, just in case?" he said with his trademark grin.

"You.. Damn you James Potter!" Rose huffed.

"Cursing at 11.. I'm.. I'm so proud!" Fred pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes as Rose glared at him.

"Diffindo." James said, cutting me loose. "Let's go!"

Grinning, I rose.

"Wait!" Rose said even as she struggled against the ropes. "You can't!"

"I'm not letting Scorpius think he's better than me!" I said stubbornly.

"Right we are, time to kick some Slytherin arse!" James agreed.

"Though your welcome to come." I added to Rose. James and Fred stopped laughing as they stared at me.

"What?" they said in unison.

"She can come if she wants." I shrugged.

"Al.. She just tried to curse the pair of you.." Fred said slowly, as if speaking to a small child.

"Fine, let me go. At least I can make sure you two idiots don't get yourselves killed." Rose said before I could respond.

"Great!" and before they could stop me, I cut her free. The next second, Fred was a frozen statue on the floor.

"Don't shoot!" she lifted her hands in surrender as James looked ready to start shooting jinxes. "That's what the git gets for ensnaring me in ropes!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that as James lowered his wand, grinning. Rose grinned in return, before turning to Fred with a smile that made my skin crawl, and stepping on a very sensitive part of the male anatomy. James and I winced.

"Never curse me again." she said simply with a look that sent spiders up my spine, before she lifted the petrification curse.

"Ah.. Damn it Rose!" Fred cursed as he gripped himself.

"Let's go boys!" Rose called. "Idiots.." she added under her breath.

"Sorry mate!" James called to Fred as the three of us departed.

We arrived at the trophy room a full ten minutes late. Leaning against the wall was Scorpius. Next to him, dark blue beautiful eyes stared at me. Tabitha. "You're late, Potter. Scared?" the voice of Scorpius Malfoy pulled me away from nearly staring into her eyes.

"Nah, just got help up." I replied, nudging my head in the dirrection of a certain red

head.

"Idiots." Rose muttered.

"Weasley came?" he raised eyebrow.

"More like tried to stop us." James grinned.

"And what did we learn about hexing me, James Potter?" Rose said coldly.

"That the result will be you stepping on our manly bits." James said with a wince.

"Exactly." Rose replied with a smirk.

All males present, myself included, winced.

"I like her.." Tabitha decided. Rose winked at her.

"Alright then, you take that end, I take this en-"

"Who's there?" the voice of Mr. Grey broke through all.

Silence.

"Run!" James hissed.

So the five of us took off at full speed, the sound of the sound of the deranged caretaker screaming behind us.

"This way!" James led us past a tapestry, around corners I didn't even know existed, once straight trough a wall until we all finally paused to rest.

"That was.." I began.

"Close." Scorpius finished.

There was a loud growling sound, and fear ripped through my body as realization dawned on me. Wide eyed, I turned. Lee Lee was glaring at us all, her eyes shining maliciously.

"Guys..." I said.

"What Al?" James asked.

"We might wanna run.." I said.

"What are you- wow, cool!" James exclaimed as he spotted Lee Lee.

"Cool? Are you insane, Potter?" Tabitha snarled.

Lee Lee howled and spat fire.

"Run!" I don't know who cried it, but the rest of us followed suit as we ran as fast as we could. We didn't even notice the figure watching us as we passed straight by him, or how he lifted up his wand and a wall materialized where there used to be no wall. Well, everyone else didn't, but I did. But when I turned to look at him, he was gone, and Rose was already dragging me before I got a chance to investigate.

"What.. the.. hell.. was.. that..." Scorpius panted.

"That.. Was Lee Lee." I replied, out of breath,

Silence.

"Lee Lee?" everyone else said incredulously.

"Yes, Lee Lee." I said, to tired to explain.

"Wait.. Its Hagrid's, isn't it? Only him.." James chuckled.

"Well, then the mans insane!" Scorpius snapped.

"Oi, don't have a go at Hagrid!" James yelled.

"Stop it, the two of you! Let's get to bed before we get caught." Rose intervened.

Grudgingly, with a final glare at one another, they agreed. Rose said not a word to the me or my dear brother as we marched back to the Common Room. Once there, she walked up straight to her room without saying goodnight, leaving the two of us alone.

"Additude." James chuckled.

"Remember it!" she called. James froze and it was my turn to laugh.

"Go to bed. Mum will kill me if she finds out.." James patted my back.

"Okay mum." I replied with a grin.

James rolled his eyes as he strode of to his dormitory. I did the same, though in the back of my mind, I was wondering silently who the man in the shadows was.


	10. Arrest

A/N; Next chapter! Please review people!

Skaterofthebooks; Hm. How so?

Pelahnar; That someone? All I shall say was that he/her is not an OC.

Thanks for the reviews and adds people! Enjoy. Adios.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

**Arrest**

"That's the second time we walk in on that Chimera. It can't be a coincidence, someone wants us dead." Rose stated quiet bluntly.

"But who?" I asked. She gave me a look that made me feel extremely stupid. I hated it when she gave me that look. She continued to stare at me, before rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Al.. Who's tried to kill us so far this year?" she asked, looking away from me, as if determined not to outright glare.

"Um.." was my brilliant reply.

"The Shapeshiter!" she finally snapped.

"Oh.. Oh!" I excalimed.

"Images.." James coughed as he sat next to me.

"What?" we asked in confusion.

"Nothing, nothing." he smirked in a way that told us that it was obviously not nothing, but we ignored him. "Now, did I hear correctly? That's the second time, what did you call it, Lee Lee tries to kill you?" he asked.

Grimly, we nodded.

James frowned. "And mum says I'm the troubled one."

Silence.

"James, didn't you place a dungbomb in the girls lavatory?" Rose raised eyebrow. He ginned, unabashed. "Ah that was a good day.. Those girls chased me half across the castle." he grinned at the memory.

I snorted, but Rose glared at him. Of course, James ignored her, as usual. "What I'm wondering, though, is how Gale knew where we where going to be." James said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That idiot, really?" James rolled his eyes. "Its quiet obvious, you know."

"Right.." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Wait.. he has a point!" Rose stared as James beamed at me.

"Al-" Rose began.

"No, think about it- Gale showed up a second after we did. Doesn't that seem suspicious to you?" I demanded.

Rose furrowed her brow in concentration. Evidently, she didn't like the new turn in the conversation.

"What class where you in when you two agreed to this little duel, mind you?" James questioned.

"Defense." I answered.

"Ah.. Strange. Uncle Bill would have said something if he heard you two discussing it in the middle of class, and mind you, the man has scary good hearing." James said.

Just then, Justin sat down, greeted us, and yawned sleepily. He looked as if he hadn't slept a wink last night.

"Oi, where were you last night." James demanded in a mock annoyed voice.

Justin yawned loudly, looked at us with sleepy eyes, before answering. "Gale had me up last night in detention. Had me cleaning all over the damn school because he caught me treading in mud the day after try outs, remember?" Justin yawned again.

Rose gasped, causing us all to look at her, but she merely shook her head at us all.

We continued to look at her wearily, before Uncle Neville's voice boomed across the common room. I jumped and let out a small scream I would latter deny.

"ALL STUDENTS REPORT TO THE GREAT HALL, IMMEDIATELY!"

Huffing, in confusion and disarray, we all made our way down. The Sixth year prefect, John Ulser, shushed us all as he led us down.

"I hate the prefects.." James whispered from somewhere behind me. Rose sent a glare his way, which he pointedly ignored.

"Both my parents were prefects." she snarled.

Me and James both snorted at that.

"No one in their right mind would make Uncle Ron a prefect, Rose. He's to much like us." James said arrogantly.

Rose rolled her eyes, looked away, and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'idiots.'

As we arrived on the scene, we saw Uncle Neville passing up and down in front of the staff table. The staff themselves all stood, obviously agitated, some fidgeting with their robes in discomfort.

As we all began to sit down, Uncle Neville ceased his pacing, and simply stood their before us, his hands crossed behind his back. That's when the mumbling began.

Scorpius shot me a look across the hall, mouthing 'what happened?'. I shook my head and mouthed 'don't know' right back. He frowned then nodded, before looking away and whispering something to his cousin, the male, Theo Orion, or whatever his name was.

Finally, as the last student sat and everything settled down, Uncle Neville turned to address us. He and the staff remained standing, which was unusual. I looked around, sure someone was missing, but I couldn't tell who. All the Professor's seemed to be here, then why did I have this nagging feeling in the back of my skull?

"You may ask why we have called you here." Uncle Neville began.

"No, we just came down for no reason at all.." someone scoffed. I glared, but couldn't find the source.

"We have found Professor McGonagall." Uncle Neville stated bluntly.

The reaction was predictable. The hall exploded as questions rang, people started shouting, the hall became filled with noise.

"Is she alright?"

"Is she dead?"

"Please tell me she's dead!"

"What happened?"

"Did you catch the Shapeshifter?"

"Is she coming back?"

"What about Professor Bane?"

"SILENCE!" Uncle Neville boomed. Instantly, the hall fell quiet. "And fifty points from Slytherin, Mr. Zabini!"

"For what!" said Slytherin sneered.

"And detention!" Uncle Neville snapped, glaring at the boy. A few people looked confused, but something clicked in my head as I glared at the dark skinned boy. So he was the one that yelled 'please tell me she's dead!'.

Zabini started muttering under his breath in annoyance as Uncle Neville turned back to us. Uncle Neville produced a note from his robes, and red in a loud, clear voice;

_"Surrender to us, and the woman will not be harmed. Surrender to us, and we shall give you the antidote to revive your Headmistress. Surrender to us, and we shall give you the antidote to revive your Potions Master. Give us the new Seer, give us the child, and the rest of you shall not be harmed. Surrender her to us, and we shall leave. Surrender."_

General silence followed the words as we stared. "This note was found on the Headmistress' person when we found her this morning, in the same place where she was taken; the Entrance Hall." more silence followed. "Obviously, we don't know who this 'new Seer' is, but we have no intention of handing them ov-"

"Why?" Maria demanded. Hundreds glared at the first year girl. "One life for two and the rest of ours." Maria stated.

"Mrs. Lestrange," Uncle Neville struggled to get the name out, somehow making it sound like the most vulgar of swear words along the way. "We will not surrender the life of a student. Professor McGonagall has been transferred to St. Mungo's. She is in a similar state to Professor Bane, locked in equilibrium. The two seemed locked in a similar static condition. Needless to say, I fear that if the perpetrator of these attacks is not found.. We will have to close the school."

Hundreds gasped.

My eyes, however, wandered over to the old woman, the one draped in shawls. Trelenee, I think, but I wasn't sure. The old woman met my gaze, and I felt as if spiders were crawling up my back. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. I simply sat there, horrified and transfixed as she continued to stare at me with a morbid expression.

"Therefore, we ask, if any of you know something, please, come forward." Uncle Neville said, almost pleading with us.

That's when I noticed who was missing.

Professor Verus.

I fished my hand into my pocked, and drapped the Invisibility Cloak over myself before anyone could take noticed.

"Come on." I whispered in Rose's ear, making her jump. Luckily, she stayed silent as I cast the cloak over her as well. Everyone was to busy paying attention to Uncle Neville as he continued to speak to even notice. I lead us out of the hall, Rose silently following behind.

As we reached the Entrance Hall, she placed her hand on my shoulder and wheeled me around.

"What is this about, Al?" she demanded.

"Verus. He's gone, or didn't you notice?" I said.

"That's why-" she rolled her eyes.

"Its just a feeling. Trust me." I told her.

She met my eyes, considered for a second, then nodded. I smiled a bit. Rose might be annoying, but you could always count on her, even if doing something completely mental like this. We shuffled across silently, and when we reached the opened door of the of the Transfiguration classroom, we heard voices coming in from the other side. With practiced stealth, we sneaked right in.

Within stood Professor Verus, his head cocked to the side as the watched the four Aurors before him- wait, Aurors? The four of them stood, wands drawed, in blood red robes.

"Vantias Verus, by order of the Minister of Magic, Oswald Reallon Grey, you are under arrest." the lead Auror said.

"Am I now? Tell me now, what does Mr. Potter make of Minister Grey commanding his Auror's around?" Verus spat.

"What Potter doesn't know wont hurt him." the Auror in the back, a blond, spat.

"Is that so, Brutus?" Verus raised eyebrow.

"Draw your wand, and drop it." the lead Auror commanded.

Verus raised eyebrow as he drew his wand, but he did not drop it to the floor as commanded. Instead, he held it firmly in his hand.

"I said drop it!" the Auror commanded again.

"Tell me the charges again, Rufus?" Verus questioned amenably, as if having a friendly conversation with a childhood friend.

"The attacks here at the school have gotten out of hand, Verus." Rufus spat. "The Ministry must act."

"Ah. You need to look like your doing something. You remind me of your Uncle, you know. How is dear Cornelius?" Verus asked in mock concern.

Rufus hissed. "Drop the wand, Verus!"

"You have yet to tell me the charge." Verus responded.

"You know damn well that only you could be behind the attacks!" Brutus snapped.

"Is that so?" Verus countered. "I feel so honored, but it is my mournful duty to inform you all that you are woefully incorrect."

"Drop the wand, Verus! This is your last chance!" Rufus ordered.

"I'll make sure to tell young Harry what his Auror's have been up to behind his back." Verus replied.

"That's it! Kill him!" Rufus commanded.

There was a bright flash of lights as Verus dodged a bolt of green malignant energy. For some reason, watching the green energy made me shudder involuntarily.

"Get the assassin!" Rufus hissed.

But Verus was too quick. I pulled Rose to the ground, covering her body with my own under one of the desks as the fight broke out around us.

There were shouts, cursing, a bit of swearing, and several bangs.

"_Confringo_!" Verus shouted.

There was the loud sound of an explosion as the silence settled in around us.

Then a hand closed around the cloak.. We both let out a scream as I lifted my wand and simply let my magic take over, shooting a spray of red sparks.

"Calm down, boy!" Verus hissed as he deflected them.

"Stay away!" I ordered, straring at him with terrified, wide eyes.

Verus lifted his hands in mock surrender before placing his wand on the ground before us and taking two steps back. "See? I'm disarmed. I wont hurt you." he promised.

Reluctantly, we stood. Rose looked shaken, and I was sure I wasn't fairing any better. The desks around us where in splinters. The classroom was a mess, the four Aurors left on the ground, obviously beaten.

At our horrified looks their way, Verus chuckled. "They're just stunned." he assured. "Now, why are the two of you here, instead of down t the Great Hall?" he questioned.

"We could ask you the same thing." I countered.

In response, Verus merely motioned to the bodied. "And your reason, Mr. Potter?"

"We- I noticed you weren't there, and had a feeling- so we-" I began, mumbling incoherently.

"Came looking for me." Verus nodded then gave us an appreciative look. "As much as I thank you for the concern, you best be going before these four awake." he motioned to the Aurors.

"What about you?" Rose finally spoke up.

"I? That is not your concern, now come, let's get out of-"

"We know about the Chimera, and about Theo." I blurted out.

Verus visible froze, staring at me. "Theo?" he stated simply, confusion evident on his face.

"Don't play dumb, you've been manipulating him all year!" I snapped, my face flushing an anger. A small part of my brain acknowledged the fact that i should probably not be screaming at a man that singlehandedly took down a team of four Aurors without a single scratch, but I ignored it.

"Of course.." Verus muttered to himself, lost in his own little world, before his eyes suddenly snapped back onto us. "How do you know of the Chimera?" he demanded.

"We ran into it." Rose said meekly.

"Twice." I added. I then remembered the cloak on the floor. I picked it up, and discovered how Verus had found us; dust had settled on top of it. Shaking it off, I put the cloak back into my pocket.

Verus's eyes widened. "Twice? I Transfigured the wall that locked of that corridor myself! How-" he stopped in mid sentence, realization dawning on him.

"Professor?" Rose asked.

"He's here.." he said simply, ignoring the two of us. He turned and looked down at the four Aurors. "Here, in the castle.. A curse that can't be broken, of course, why didn't I see it before!" Verus exclaimed. His face did something I had never seen it do before; it suddenly lost all color. Not a drop of blood was visible underneath the mask, whiter than a sheet of paper.

That's when he picked up his wand and ran.

"Professor!" I called, before chasing after him like the idiot I am.

"Albus Severus!" Rose hissed as she chased after me, but I ignored her.

Verus ran faster than I'd ever seen another man run, and if it wasn't for the fact that I'd been playing Quidditch(or attempting to, anyhow) I probably would never have managed to keep up.

We ran up stairs, past corridors, through hallways, before finally coming before a wall. Verus muttered something under his breath as he waved his wand at it ust as Rose arrived, panting heavily and glaring at me.

"NO!" Verus cried. We stared as the wall dissipated, and there, in the center of the Seventh Hall Corridor, lay Lee Lee.

Verus walked in weakly, staring at the body with a horrified expression. Silently, we followed. The great body of the Chimera lay battered and broken, beaten, the tail twisted at an odd angle. Blood tinkled from a wound beneath the great goat head.

She was dead.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N;

The first thing I have to say is that I'm sorry.

The second is that this story will no longer be updated. While I d plan on finishing it, I'm going to reboot it. Consider this a rough draft.

Personally, I feel terrible for doing this, and now a few of my might want to rip my head of after waiting a month for an update and receiving this instead, but, in all honestly, the plot for this story barely came into my mind.

Previously, I'd been making it up as I went along.

I will be posting a new, updated version of this story soon. Very soon, actually. The first chapter should be up within the hour. The first few chapters shoud go quickly and smoothly, since I'll have raw material to work on from this story to use.

Again, sorry. I feel terrible as an author for this since I've basically just failed all of you, the readers. I'll do my best to keep something like this from happening again.

In all honestly, reading through this, I thought the entire thing was generally sloppy and mal-written. Though it has its high points, it just isn't working for me.

The new story will be called Next Gen; The Curse of the Lost

Again, my apologize, and Merry Christmas.


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